How to Make a Hoop House

Well, here i go adding more projects to an already project-laden month/year/life on the little urban farm in the Enright Urban Ecovillage. I had this idea to build a hoop house so that the seeds that Erin and I planted would be able to germinate comfortably and without risk of freezing.

I have been reading Four Season Harvest by Eliot Coleman and we have decided that we want to grow vegetables of some sort year around. Eliot grows them in Maine (Zone 5) year round and we are in Zone 6, so I know that the task is definitely doable.

Also, I want the hoop house to be lightweight, portable, and inexpensive. So I went to Home Depot and bought some PVC pipe with little fittings to piece it all together. In this trip i purchased 4 1/2″ PVC pipes (8 feet long), 6 3/4″ PVC pipes (8′ long). 4 3/4 In. x 3/4 In. x 1/2 In. PVC 90 Degree Elbow W/Taped Side Outlet (s),  3/4 In. x 3/4 In. x 1/2 In. PVC Tee With Flip Branch(s), and some other fittings to make this a reality.  Total cost: <$20.

I will provide a diagram once this is finished.  No, it is not complete (like most projects in my life), but it should be tomorrow.  I tried to assemble this the other night and it didn’t work out exactly as planned.  The receiver(s) of the 1/2″ ribs of the hoop house were pointing straight up (the PVC  Tees and the 90 degree elbows).  This created too much tension on the 1/2″ pipe and it broke one of the PVC fittings (plus it was around 30 degrees outside [cold PVC does not bend, it breaks]).

Back to the drawing board.  I picked up some 45 degree PVC elbow fittings to try to reduce the tension on the 1/2″ pipe and i am crossing my fingers.  Once the frame is built, i will wrap it in plastic and BAM!…we will have a miniature greenhouse that will allow us to get a jump on the season and extend it too.  I want to try to avoid gluing any pieces together, so that I can change the size and disassemble it easily.  I will keep you posted as the project continues.  Hopefully i bring better news tomorrow!