At our recent homestead seminar we built a hoop house so that everyone could see how cheap and easy it is to put one together. And as most folks had seen the results of our last year’s hoop house in a huge harvest of giant peppers, even John and Mia from California (who live in the mountains) were quickly enthusiastic about building similar structures on their homestead.

Yesterday I started planting in earnest. Not only did I set out four flats of peppers with plenty of room for more today, but I also planted a 75-foot row of potatoes (with three more to plant today), carrots, rutabagas, and dill. It’s so exciting to get everything in the ground with some warmer weather forecasted and little rain. It’s been hugely rainy here recently and we’re all a bit late getting things in the ground. Luckily we live on a gravel ridge, so when it quits raining, I can immediately begin tilling and planting. Right now life on the homestead is a little hectic, but it feels so good to get things planted.

7 COMMENTS

  1. Hi Jackie,

    I can’t wait to see the inside pics of the hoop house. It was so much fun building it and I can’t wait to find out what we get to make next year. What a wonderful seminar!

    Sheryl

  2. Jackie,

    It was great being at your homesteading seminar and taking part in building the hoop house. I definitely hope to have one next year. The seminar was a truly inspiring experience. My head is still swimming with all the information you and Will shared with us. Learning first hand about pruning trees, livestock facilities and care, gardening tips, pantry storage, tools, cooking from your pantry, and much more was so very helpful. I think the thing I particularly gained from seeing your “homestead in progress” was that it really is a step by step journey. If a tarp is a roof, or if pallets make a pen, that’s okay. I just need to follow your lead and keep at it, doing what I can with what I have. Thank you so much for the inspiration. Have a great seminar in August!

  3. Re building high tunnels/hoop houses, if you go on the Internet and do a search with the words trampoline greenhouse or tunnel, you should have a page returned that shows how to make a high tunnel very quickly from a trampoline frame. The frame needs to be from a trampoline large enough so you can walk/stoop through one of the halves although a smaller frame would work on a raised bed. It is a wonderful use for something that may be in the dump or lying around in someone’s yard unused and it is a very clever repurposing idea.

  4. Picked my first 2 peas today…boy were they good. Thought I would have 128 feet of peas this year but 64 feet did not grow. They were expensive seed too. Planted pole beans in their place. And they have started up already.

  5. We had a freeze last night, another one predicted for tonight. My peppers are in bloom but if my pepper, eggplant and basil plants weren’t in a tunnel they would be as dead as my winter squash plants are now. With the tunnel, I have hopes of melons this year. Hoop houses/high tunnels and low tunnels are such a worthwhile food production investment. I’m building another tunnel ASAP. Wish I could have seen how you built yours. Maybe a short DIY article with drawings or picture details in BWH? kind of like the goat cottage article.

  6. Your peppers look great! You are so fortunate to have rain! We haven’t been getting much if any at all for weeks at a time here in central WI. I too am trying to get the rest of the garden in but my back has a “kink” in it and it’s slowing me way down! Oh well, we keep on trying!

  7. Jackie –

    We did make it to your hoop house seminar but I wanted to share something we’ve learned about potatoes…

    We live in Alaska so our days are long but season is short and friend of a friend told us the best way to grow potatoes is to fill a large trash bag (leaf size) a quarter full of soil. Plant your potatoes and water very lightly. Keep covered in hoop house or the like. When leaves appear, let grow pretty big and then cover the leaves with another 3 to 4 inches of soil. Let leaves come up again and repeat this process. Next time leaves come up – allow to grow as normal until harvest.

    Apparently, the leaves will sprout potatoes also – this method yields a ton of potatoes in a bag. I’ll bet the same can be done right in the ground.

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