We’ve been talking about our plans for a hoop house ever since we visited our friend Yuka’s parents’ garden last summer and saw their prospering tomatoes in a makeshift greenhouse. We decided on the back bed to keep the somewhat unsightly contraption out of the view from the street. The construction was pretty simple — just 1/2″ and 3/4″ PVC pipe, some hardware to hold it to the garden bed, and some 6 mil plastic.
You’ll see from one of the photos below how we have the bed set up. We laid a soaker hose on top of the bed, then rolled on black plastic sheeting. Lastly we cut holes through the plastic to plant our starters in. The goal is to minimize weeds and also to retain moisture and keep evaporation to a minimum. We’ll keep you posted on how it goes.
It’s also designed to be easy to get at the plants, so the walls fold up 8 feet at a time to make tending and harvesting a little more convenient. We’re putting tomatoes, peppers, and eggplant back there, and there’s room for one or two more things if something fancy comes along.
The other benefit of this whole setup is that it will keep the chickens out of the back garden bed, which they have really been loving of late, since it’s full of worms.
