Hoop house update

Last season we talked about removing the plastic from the hoop house. It had given us 6 great seasons and was showing wear and tear, plus I wanted to flush out the soil under plastic with a good soaking rain and a season of snow. The more we discussed it, the more we liked the idea of moving it completely. We disassembled it and moved it to our back yard. The best thing about having a hoop house right behind our house is that we can easily vent it on a sunny day and close it back up when the sun goes down. Speaking of venting, we are installing roll up sides on the updated version, which will facilitate venting. In addition, our new space allows for a slightly bigger hoop house. We are going from a 12′ x 20′ to a 12′ x 28′ and increased the height of the new one to allow our summer trellised tomatoes to grow more. Although it’s not that much bigger, it feels huge to me! We have some more work to get it ready for plastic, but this is major progress, especially considering it’s February! Really, there should be snow on the ground and temps below freezing, but the winter has been unseasonably mild with a full week of 40+ degree days, including a day that got over 70.

Here are some recent pics of the process: