Extend Your Growing Season With an Easy to Create Hoop House

The kids and I went over to Growing Hope last weekend to participate in their Seed Starting Squad. I actually have never been there, even though they are minutes from the house, but thought this would make for a nice weekend project. While we were there though we got to tour their beautiful (and large) hot house - It was inside that where I found a great idea for a quickie hoop house. 

I've been thinking about creating a micro-climate where I can extend my growing season, and thought this might be the answer to what I was searching for - The best thing was, we had almost EVERYTHING hanging around in the garage and my home office!  I should note too, that this type of hoop house works with raised bed gardens that have a wooden walls surrounding the beds...

Directions for a Basic Hoop House:

• Get several 10' lengths of 1/2" PVC pipe
• A package of 1/2" galvanized 2-hole pipe strap (Look in the plumbing section of your local home improvement store)
• Screws
• Clear heavy duty drop cloth (we found a 10'x25' one at Lowes)
• 1" binder clips or other clips to secure the plastic 
• A screw driver and scissors 
• Two sets of hands are necessary to create this hoop house

At the ends of the beds add the pipe strap, you will actually need to srew one side in most of the way and start the second screw - Insert the pipe and tighten the screws. Next add the pipe strap to the second side of the bed only make sure it is slightly loose. Bend the pipe over the bed inserting it into the pipe strap and tighten the screws.  Continue doing this at your desired distance down the beds - In my case there is approximately 5-6' between supports, although I'll admit a 4' distance might have been ideal, so I might alter my hoop house at the end of the season!

Next drape the plastic over the hoops and clip into place.  I opted to cut a separate "doorway" for the ends so that weather permitting I can open the top of them to let some of the hottest air escape. No need to fry the little plants lazing in the warmth...

Obviously this is new to me, but I already have plans in mind for improvements in future hoop houses.  It sure dies make a nice, and inexpensive hoop house though, if I had to purchase everything it would have only cost around $15. It even held up to some pretty strong March winds, although it is somewhat sheltered sitting between tow homes.

So get out and extend your growing season with this easy, and quick, hoop house. You're seedlings and plants will enjoy it, and possibly so will your children!

"When Can I Plant In My Garden?"

My one neighbor asks me every year, "do you think we can plant our gardens yet?"

I'll admit. I plant early most years, but it helps that my raised bed gardens are snuggled up to the house. Most people think "no big-deal" right? Wrong. Having the garden beds that close to the house means they get warmer much sooner and benefit from the heat radiating off the house. It's not unusual for me to have VERY early crops and a much longer growing season ~ My asparagus seems to come up earlier, my strawberries ripen sooner and my tomatoes will stick around sometimes well into October!

So my answer to my neigbor is often "I don't think so, you're a bit early."

She probably thinks I'm being crabby or not helpful, but the bottom line is her garden is at the back of the yard and does not benefit from some weather protection.

One thing you can consider when planting your garden is Mother Nature's cues. I use some of the spring signs to tell me that it's time to plant. I figure Mohter Nature knows what she is doing right? I also use my journal to tell me when I planted LAST year and the years before that. (I have a GREAT 10-year journal called Journal 10+ that allows me to write an abbreviated update of what I did that day the year before and it tracks 10 years of information!) It's a good way to have a successful veggie garden every year!

Farmers have use the signs of spring to indicate when it's time to plant the garden for eons - It's even mainstay of the annual Old Farmer’s Almanac. This type of planning is called phenological planning. Some think it's considered Old Wives Tales, but these natural signs may be a good indicator that the timing is right.

I noticed the other day that the forsythia blooms came out - What does that mean? Time to plant the peas!

Here are some interesting Farmer's Almanac planting tips:

• Plant corn and beans when elm leaves are the size of a squirrel’s ear, when oak leaves are the size of a mouse’s ear, when apple blossoms begin to fall, or when dogwoods are in full bloom.
• Plant lettuce, spinach, peas, broccoli and cabbage when the lilacs show their first leaves or when daffodils begin to bloom.
• Plant tomatoes, early corn and peppers when dogwoods are in peak bloom or when daylilies start to bloom.
• Plant cucumbers and squash when lilac flowers fade.
• Plant potatoes when the first dandelion blooms.
• Plant beets and carrots when dandelions are blooming.
• Plant peas when the forsythia blooms.
  

So there you have it - Use some of these signs to plan your garden this year and see what happens!

Couldn't Resist!

I couldn't resist today when I passed the seed display at Home Depot - I purchased my cool weather seed crops for early speing planting. I love planning my garden and can't wait to get my spinach, leaf lettuce, radishes and snow peas in the ground ~ Heck I can't wait to get ANYTHING in the ground.

My early spring seed planting is awaiting...