One of the problems with trying to garden in this area is the unpredictable weather–especially in the spring. We can go from 60 and 70 temperatures to frost within 24 hours–this year we have been so cold and wet that I am about 3 weeks behind in my gardening. There have been years when we have warmed up in the first week of May and stayed frost-free through October whereas there have also been years where we’ve gotten frost as late as midJune(our last frost-date is May 31st, first frost is Oct 1st). Because of this planting is especially difficult to do–either stuff sits in the ground rotting away because it is too cool for it to germinate, or it comes up and is hit by frost. This especially tought on tomato, peppers and vine crops–I’ve had years where I had to replant some or all. The last couple of years I’ve experimented with lightweight row cover, a polyester covering that helps protect the crops from frost while warming the soil (and keeping bugs off the freshly germinated plants). This has worked well in getting vine crops to germinate(they fairly jump out of the ground) but tends to be a little hard to control over tomatoes and peppers. Then, this year, while leafing through a greenhouse catalog, I discovered PVC snap clamps–U-shape clamps that allow row cover, netting or plastic to be fastened to PVC pipe. What appears below is my experimental usage of these.
I had some 12-foot, 1/2″ pvc pipe that I bought when a local lumberyard went out of business for a failed attempt to cover my blueberry patch with birdproof netting (it was too flexable to carry the load). Using some 3/4″ pvc cross connectors, I was able to slide them to midpoint on the 1/2″ stuff and run some 10′ pieces of 3/4 pipe between each piece. The ends are then forced into the ground–there is a vertical post clamped on to the pipe at both ends of the row to keep the whole thing from toppling over. After planting the rows, I attached the row cover on to the pipe. Currently there are lettuce, beets, chard, carrots, beans and onion plants under this hoop house. I expect, as soon as this stuff is established, to pull up and move this whole thing over to my squash/pumpkin patch to help those seeds germinate.
This is my “tomato house” and is a little more elaborate. It is 10 by 20-feet and constructed with 3/4″ pvc using T, L, X and 45-degree elbow connectors. It is about 5′ high at the center, 2′ at the edges to allow me to work under it. Currently it is–as you can see–covered with clear plastic primarily to warm the soil under it–I also have laid plastic mulch inside (I’m experimenting with red this year too). Once the soil is warm–in a week or so–I’ll take the plastic off, plant my tomato and peppers and replace it with row cover. Once the plants are in bloom, I’ll remove the cover–I could also replace it with netting to keep critters away it I need to. I’ve made this a little sturdier and more permanent so, come October, when frost is predicted, I can recover the whole thing and keep the plants going for a few weeks longer. In both case, everything can be disassembled and stored for the winter.
Hopefully this will help me increase both the length of time I can have these crops as well as allowing for an earlier harvest. Maybe, just once, I can have garden fresh tomatoes by July. Also, since I will have the materials earlier next year, I should be able to get an even earlier start.
