"Pat Meadows" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 26 Jun 2003 11:04:15 -0400, WCD
wrote:

The Cook wrote:

I saw this on an Elliott Coleman show. Put down several layers of
newspaper or use cardboard. Put mulch (leaves, grass, etc.) on top
and leave it for 6 months. They were doing this in the fall and said
the grass would be gone by spring.


Excellent!! That's just what I was looking for.

Did you see that recently? I haven't seen Eliott on TV lately. Now
there's a guy with a ton of interesting ideas! A couple of years ago we
went on a garden tour of the Blue Hill area and their place was on it.
Very inspiring!



I have his book 'The Four Season Harvest' - great stuff.

We're building a hoophouse later this summer, and I have a
personal goal (here in chilly northern PA), to eat something
fresh from my garden every day of the year.

Pat

How do you build a loophouse? What are the requirements?

On Thu, 26 Jun 2003 18:41:49 GMT, "FDR"
wrote:



How do you build a loophouse? What are the requirements?


Hoophouse - hoops support it. We're going to use these
plants (slightly modified):

http://www.rainyside.com/resources/hoophouse.html

There are other hoophouse plans available on the Web - just
Google on 'hoophouse'.

BTW, we took these plans to our municipal building office:
and we don't require a building permit for this. However,
building permits may be required in some areas.

Pat

"Pat Meadows" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 26 Jun 2003 18:41:49 GMT, "FDR"
wrote:



How do you build a loophouse? What are the requirements?


Hoophouse - hoops support it. We're going to use these
plants (slightly modified):

http://www.rainyside.com/resources/hoophouse.html

There are other hoophouse plans available on the Web - just
Google on 'hoophouse'.

BTW, we took these plans to our municipal building office:
and we don't require a building permit for this. However,
building permits may be required in some areas.

Pat

Thank you. I was thinking of modifying it for a smaller version that could
be used for broccoli, cabbage and other cool weather crops to extend the
season.

How do you build a loophouse? What are the requirements?


Hoophouse - hoops support it. We're going to use these
plants (slightly modified):


Thank you. I was thinking of modifying it for a smaller version that could
be used for broccoli, cabbage and other cool weather crops to extend the
season.


I have a small hoophouse in my back yard just for starting tomatoes,
cukes, flowers and whatever else I want during the winter. Mine
started out as a child's wooden-sided sand box, so that part was easy.
Four boards nailed into a square would work just as easily. To that,
I added a piece of hog fencing, bent into a U-shape (sort of like a
U-shaped tent over the sandbox), to make the roof. I placed this
inside the sandbox so I could use the sides to support the fencing. I
threaded 1 inch PVC pipe through the holes in the fencing and bent
those into two U's, using the wooden sides of the sandbox to support
them on either side. These made the fencing really strong and assured
that the whole thing wouldn't flop over... the ends of the PVC pipe
went down in the sand so it was a really nice tight fit, very sturdy.
I covered the whole thing with plastic sheeting, securing it with
those little black binder clips you get at office supply stores
directly onto the fencing wire. I cut out big plastic U shaped doors
(out of the same plastic), and clipped them to the openings on either
side. For support so the "doors" wouldn't flap, I made them longer
than they needed to be, and secured them with a large piece of pvc
pipe on the ground to hold the ends down. On really cold nights (and
here in South Carolina we generally never go below the 30's, but we
did have a few nights that did last winter) I would go out to the
hoophouse at night and put in several two-liter drink bottles filled
with hot water, which kept the whole thing warm all night long. On
warm days I had to open the plastic doors to cool it down (easy
enough, just unclipped a couple binder clips). It was also so strong
that it not only held up fine the entire winter long, but has now
withstood heaven knows how many summer storms with winds up to 45mph+!

Does it work? I am already harvesting Black Russian tomatoes from
plants started in the hoophouse in the dead of January (typical temps
here in January are daytime, 40's-50's, nighttime 20's-40's). My
gourds are already huge (when everybody else's here have just started
blooming). Everything in my garden this year with the exception of
my pole beans (planted from seed) and my squash (also seed) was
started in my little hoophouse.

Hope that helps a bit, mine is anything but large and industrial!

Casey