4 levels of cold frames/hoop houses

habitat_gardener · July 28, 2012

I was looking at Bountiful Gardens' list of new books, and this one caught my eye:
http://www.bountifulgardens.org/prod...umber=BGE-1241

It's only 28 pages and costs $12. The title is Golden Rule Farm's Guide to Growing Early Tomatoes, and the author uses a 4x12 cold frame within a 12x36 cold frame within an inner hoop house within an outer hoop house to get tomatoes on April 17 in northern Michigan. He claims each layer gives him 1.5 climate zones. The description says he also uses water bottles in cold spots.

habitat_gardener · July 28, 2012

I found a youtube!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EUlL38JNChE
In this one, he says he has enough to sell (100 lbs.) in mid June, at $7/lb. to restaurants. and the hoop houses pay for themselves in a year.

janezee · July 28, 2012

hg,

A better investment, in my estimation, is Eliot Coleman's original idea on this. His books all demonstrate the year-round gardening lifestyle, without benefit of additional heating. And he does his in Maine!

My hoop house that I'm building is styled on these principles. It's a frame made of cattle panels arched between two narrow outer beds, with a higher frame made of pvc pipe 20' long, arched over the outer beds. On the inside, I can hang plastic over another tall trellis, or hang it from the roof of the cp to cover the 4'x12' bed down the middle.

Then there will be a 2' tall hoop house over the bed in the middle of the cattle panel arch, and a shorter one one, about 1.75 feet tall. The double one worked out well for me last winter for carrots, beets, spinach, lettuce, and parsnips. I'm hoping that the extra layers will enable me to start tomatoes and peppers early enough to have ripe tomatoes by the first of June, if not sooner.

On one side, there will be beds for early lettuce, greens, and cool weather seedlings.

If I can get all this done by fall.

I'm very interested in the remarks he made in the video about not getting great tomatoes in the fall because of the lack of sun. I find that to be true here also, at the 48th parallel. Makes me wonder about artificial lighting.

j

Cole_Robbie · July 29, 2012

The fact that the inflated double layer of poly has become pretty much the commercial standard demonstrates the value of the layering concept. If you have the luxury of electricity to run a small inflation blower, it's easy to get two layers out of just your outside shell. Also, row covers within cold frames are very widely used as well, another example of the layering concept.

janezee · July 29, 2012

I was unclear when I wrote about Eliot's ideas. I was referring to the fact that the booklet from Golden Rule Farm is based on Eliot's previous books and ideas within them.

j

cmarchan · July 30, 2012

Hello,
This sounds really impressive and certainly worth exploring. I just can't help but think that there would be too little light with so many layers. I will have to check out the video tomorrow on highspeed internet.

Cole_Robbie · July 30, 2012

I'm seeing one site that says their 6-mil poly transmits 91% of light per layer.

July 28, 2012	#1
habitat_gardener Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: California Central Valley Posts: 2,543	4 levels of cold frames/hoop houses I was looking at Bountiful Gardens' list of new books, and this one caught my eye: http://www.bountifulgardens.org/prod...umber=BGE-1241 It's only 28 pages and costs $12. The title is Golden Rule Farm's Guide to Growing Early Tomatoes, and the author uses a 4x12 cold frame within a 12x36 cold frame within an inner hoop house within an outer hoop house to get tomatoes on April 17 in northern Michigan. He claims each layer gives him 1.5 climate zones. The description says he also uses water bottles in cold spots.

July 28, 2012	#3
janezee Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: Whidbey Island, WA Zone 7, Sunset 5 Posts: 931	hg, A better investment, in my estimation, is Eliot Coleman's original idea on this. His books all demonstrate the year-round gardening lifestyle, without benefit of additional heating. And he does his in Maine! My hoop house that I'm building is styled on these principles. It's a frame made of cattle panels arched between two narrow outer beds, with a higher frame made of pvc pipe 20' long, arched over the outer beds. On the inside, I can hang plastic over another tall trellis, or hang it from the roof of the cp to cover the 4'x12' bed down the middle. Then there will be a 2' tall hoop house over the bed in the middle of the cattle panel arch, and a shorter one one, about 1.75 feet tall. The double one worked out well for me last winter for carrots, beets, spinach, lettuce, and parsnips. I'm hoping that the extra layers will enable me to start tomatoes and peppers early enough to have ripe tomatoes by the first of June, if not sooner. On one side, there will be beds for early lettuce, greens, and cool weather seedlings. If I can get all this done by fall. I'm very interested in the remarks he made in the video about not getting great tomatoes in the fall because of the lack of sun. I find that to be true here also, at the 48th parallel. Makes me wonder about artificial lighting. j

July 29, 2012	#4
Cole_Robbie Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2012 Location: Illinois, zone 6 Posts: 8,407	The fact that the inflated double layer of poly has become pretty much the commercial standard demonstrates the value of the layering concept. If you have the luxury of electricity to run a small inflation blower, it's easy to get two layers out of just your outside shell. Also, row covers within cold frames are very widely used as well, another example of the layering concept.

July 30, 2012	#6
cmarchan Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jul 2012 Location: Antigonish, N.S, CAN Posts: 8	Hello, This sounds really impressive and certainly worth exploring. I just can't help but think that there would be too little light with so many layers. I will have to check out the video tomorrow on highspeed internet.