Hoop House Harvest, Seedlings and Transplants

We had our first major harvest from the hoop house a couple of days ago, of mache, minutina, claytonia, and some kale. Though the claytonia had bolted the leaves were still sweet. I bagged these and took them to NYC, where we shared them with our friends, along with a vinaigrette made with my  blueberry-basil …

Hoop House 3.0: Modular, Still Movable

{UPDATE} look here for the finished product! Like I said in an earlier post, I would not recommend our present hoop house design to anyone who has gust of wind and lots of snow. It has served the purpose of getting us going, of experimentation, and we are still hoping for a Winter Harvest (I’ll …

Compost and Veggies in the Hoop House

Brrrr, looks so cold with that new banner! The hoop house beds get an airing Inspired by Rob of One Straw, I went out into the cold, bright air yesterday  – gloves, woolen cap – to move the compost. The idea was to transfer it from Earth Machine no.1 behind our house, which receives our …

Who’s at the Feeder and Hoop House Trouble

I enjoy nothing more, in winter, then sitting by the big window with a cup of steaming tea and a good book or chess game, and observing the birds at the well-stocked feeder. We have the usual flock of juncos, who love playing in the snow. They are having it out with a flock (the …

Quick Notes on Stored Food and a Peek Inside the Hoop House

So I did all that canning last year and ended up with a little more than what you see in the picture above. So far we’ve eaten half the tomato sauce, a lot of apple sauce and blueberry jam (but not half, not by a long shot), a quarter of the peaches, and some of …

Hoop House Design 2.0

Last weekend we finally got the plastic on the hoop house, just in time too, before the first big snowstorm. A couple of days after the storm something did not look right. Several of the “ribs” were no longer bent. A quick inspection revealed that the snow that had accumulated against the bottom had pressed …

Hoop House Frame is Up, and Winter

Over the long weekend it took us – two adults versus one four-year-old – to set up the hoop house PVC frame. Initially we thought that the simple hoop house might not be high enough on the sides for the taller plants, like tomatoes, that we want to grow in it in summer. So we …