I had been thinking about building a Hoop House/Green House. I would like to start my own plants in the Spring and extend my growing season. So I did some research on the WWW and got a feel for what was required to build a Hoop House. Basically the house is built using PVC pipe held to the ground by rebar or pipe.
I happened to have some old pipe handy so I used that, I drove the pipe into the ground with a sledge hammer. The pipe was spaced three feet apart and I made a twelve foot square, I used the pipe on only two sides. I then inserted PVC pipe into the pipe forming an arch. I then added the boards around the perimeter of the house so I would have something to nail the covering to. I then attached board to the end hoops one for a door and the other for a window/ventilation hole. Then the covering was spread over the hoops and attached to the base boards. The covering was folded and trimmed and a hole was cut for the door. The door will be built later. Now I have the Hoop House up and covered, waiting for the door to be built and hung.
The floor space inside is 144 sq ft, 12'x12', this should give me two plant beds 12'x4' one on each side and enough room later in the spring to get my plants started. It took ten hours to build with occasional help of one other person and lots of breaks to think over the next step. One of the frustrating steps was making the covering neat and mostly wrinkle free. Forget the wrinkle free and go for the best you can do and move on or it will drive you nuts. I was surprised at how sturdy it feels once the fabric is in place. How sturdy it is, is another matter. We get some intense storms here and it will be tested well before the Summer is out, I am sure.
Up Date; Door Is Built And On
I thought the door would be a big hassle, but it turned out to be rather simple and as it doesn't have to be perfect the frustration level was zero. I hope it stays together-need to find a latch so I can get rid of the country door stop :)
Oh, I have no idea what the dog is looking at; clouds, bird(s) stretching her neck? Just another puzzle.
7 comments:
Pretty amazing. I didn´t know PVC pipe could be bent so much.
PVC pipe bends rather easily the smaller the diameter of the pipe the smaller you can make the arc. There are limits of course.
There are many uses for PVC pipe other than for transporting liquids.
Kay
Your hoop house looks great.
Thank you Jackie it was a very satisfying project, now to use it to get the most out of it.
Kay
I have been reading your blog from the very beginning. It is amazing how much you've done to the farm since you bought it. I love your hoop house.
Thanks Kay
I still have lots to do to the house and barn. The list of things to do seems to get longer instead of shorter :)
I hope this hoop house project will help extend the growing season and get my garden off to a running start next year !
I'm just surfing by, looking for ideas and such from other farm girls and then I had to make a comment because you called it:
the country door stop
My granddad used just a stopper like that - I grew up looking at it and having to remove it/attach it when I needed to. Even though it was a bit in the way, I liked it - and miss it(!) Thanks for reminding me :D
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