Winter weather is on the way. Like many Southerners, I don’t take too kindly to the mercury dipping below, say, 50° or so, but unfortunately it does get cold here, and we have to know how to prepare for it!
I have a couple of garden beds that contained both summer and fall produce, so I had to take measures to protect them from the frost that hit this week. It was really simple to do (although it would have been more simple without the gale force winds!) I’ll show you what we did!
 |
| Erica helps install the hoops |
For a 12′ bed you probably need 3-4 hoops. We used 4, but we also stuck our lettuce box under the hoop house.
- First, drive pieces of re-bar a few inches into the ground every few feet, one on either side of the garden bed.
- Next, slide a piece of PVC pipe over the re-bar. We used pipe that we found in our barn. The pieces were about 10 feet. This will need to be adjusted based on the size of your garden and what you have on hand.
- Gently bend the PVC pipe.
 |
| Some good tunes help you work |
- Now, insert the pipe over the other piece of re-bar.
 |
| It helps to have an 8 year old who doesn’t mind getting her hands dirty! |
- It’s time for plastic! We found this at Tractor Supply.
 |
| 4 mil plastic sheeting in a 10’x25′ roll |
- Now spread out your plastic and find something to anchor it down.
 |
| We put the heavy lettuce box on top of one end of the plastic and then stretched it over the hoops |
 |
| Eric and Erica spread out the plastic |
 |
| Buh-bye beautiful okra blossom! |
 |
| Metal Stake |
First we tried to stake the sheeting down, but the wind was too strong, so we settled for a more low-tech approach…
 |
| We used a few clamps to gather up excess plastic |
 |
| Rocks and bricks around the outside did the best for holding down the plastic in the wind |
That’s it! Most of our plants survived the freeze really well inside their hoop houses. The green beans look great inside! The okra and basil though were the largest plants inside and were in direct contact with the plastic. They didn’t fare as well. I’m guessing that the plastic itself was cold. It was getting really late for both of those plants though, so I wasn’t too awfully sad.
Please let me know if you have any questions on how to construct your own little hoop houses!
Related
