Constructing a Hoop House

The idea to build this hoop house came to me well before Spring arrived but wasn't motivated to go out and build during cold days. Around March end, I headed to Home Depot where a staff helped me to come up with this kind of a structure as transporting 10 ft long pipes was not easy in my Ford Escape.

I have two raised beds with 8 * 4 ft and 7.5 * 4.5 ft in dimensions.

Materials needed :
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a) 4 of 1/2 in * 10 ft PVC pipes (I then had 6 of 3 foot long pipes which makes the inverted V shape and are joined by 90 degree elbow, I had 6 of 2 foot long vertical pipes that hold the ends of inverted V and are connected by 45 degree elbow, 4 of 4 foot long pipes for ridge-lines connected by connector)
b) 6 of 45 degrees elbows
c) 3 of 90 degree elbows
d) 2 connectors
e) 20 count zip ties
f) 6 Iron Rods 2 ft long
g) Easy Gardener Bird Netting 14 * 45 ft ( covered 2 of the raised beds structure)
h) Caps to close ridge-lines open ends

How to Build:

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1) Hammer the Iron rods at 4 corners of the raised bed and one each at the center on the long side of the bed.

2) Insert 6 of those 2 foot long pipes on these Iron rods, now attach 6 of those 45 degree elbows. Make sure atleast 1 foot length goes into the bed, this will keep the hoop house intact against strong winds. 

3) Using the 90 degree elbow connect two of the 3 foot long pipes to make 3 inverted 'V'

4) Attach each of these inverted 'V' to the their respective 45 degree elbow on both sides

5) I attached ridge-lines on both the sides and used zip ties to hold them in a place.

6) Covered the entire structure with bird netting and had bricks hold the loose ends of the net. 

I plan to use a plastic sheet during fall to extend the growing season. 

Growing Veggies in Raised Beds

Early spring I had to prep up my garden bed to grow veggies this summer. I knew my raised bed was rich with nutrients as the result of trench composting. I did add an additional one bag of compost which I got from Pipkins Market here in Cincinnati. Used a garden fork to shuffle around the compost and soil and let it stay for few days before I started transplanting my veggies from indoor to garden bed. I planted Cabbage, Cauliflower, Eggplant, Broccoli, Lettuce and Brussel Sprouts to start with. Surprisingly all my Cabbage saplings survived the transplant while none of the Eggplants survived.

I got few more saplings from Pipkins and transplanted them. I see them flourish in my raised bed now!!

If you are wondering what is that PVC structure around my raised bed, that is a hoop house which I constructed to ward off Squirrels and Bunnies. Read my detailed blog on how to build a hoop house.

I had another raised bed which was in a bad shape. Having seen some success growing veggies in my first one, I was more excited to clean this second one. I have Onions, Potatoes and Fenugreek leaves growing. Also have sowed some Carrots, Pepper, Zucchini, Peas and Cilantro. I saw a bunny munching up the bitter Fenugreek leaves so had to construct another hoop house for this second raised bed too!!