Monday, March 1, 2010

The Hoophouse

My father gave me a roll of plastic sheeting that he no longer needed. Lucky me! I have the perfect project for this roll of treasure...A hoophouse. I've read about being able to extent the growing seasons by using this easily constructed cover and this weekend I started building my own. Of course I did a little research on Youtube and found this video and this video for some hoop house inspiration.

The local mega hardware store carries all the necessary materials. I'm using 3/4" schedule 40 PVC pipe, duct tape and some heavy duty clamps I found in the shop.

I started by drilling holes every 4 feet in the bench that runs along the top side of my garden box. I found that a spade drill bit worked well for making the holes.
















Slid the PVC pipe into holes.





























And within a half an hour, I had the framework finished. I used a total of seven pieces of 10' pipe and secured the top cross members with duct tape. I think nylon ties would also work nicely for holding the pipe in place, but I didn't have any. So hundred mile an hour tape it is.
















Using a T-square and a straight edge, I cut the plastic to size and pulled it over the frame.
















I used these really nice clamps to secure the plastic.
























































Now, I'll wait until tomorrow to see how effective the hoop house is.

1 comment:

  1. Your hoop house is awesome! I want to put one up for my raised beds this winter. I meant to this past winter but it didn't quite happen.

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