Anxiety? Gardening!
Jumping Through Hoops
Oct 24
Written By Johnny Sanphillippo
Screen Shot 2020-10-24 at 11.37.56 AM.png
Screen Shot 2020-10-24 at 11.37.00 AM.png
Screen Shot 2020-10-24 at 11.38.57 AM.png
Screen Shot 2020-10-14 at 7.46.37 AM.png
Lately I’ve beed busy installing a hoop house in the back garden. A hoop house will allow year round vegetable production, frost protection for sensitive crops like citrus and figs, and healthy recreation space in the colder winter months.
Each layer of hoop house skin shifts the indoor climate by one and a half agricultural growing zones. So my Sonoma hoop house (USDA zone 9a) will effectively simulate San Diego’s growing conditions (USDA zone 10b). If I ever decide to get aggressive I could double the plastic skin with an air gap and be able to garden in a virtual Hawaii.
Screen Shot 2020-10-24 at 11.35.38 AM.png
Screen Shot 2020-10-14 at 10.24.01 PM.png
Screen Shot 2020-10-22 at 8.08.28 PM.png
In summer the structure may serve as a shade house to keep crops from bolting in extreme heat. This could also help conserve water during droughts. Special perforated cloth can be installed in lieu of the winter plastic skin as needed. Or vines can be trained up the framework to keep things cool while also bearing fruit.
And in an emergency situation the structure might just be pressed into service as a makeshift shelter. A hoop house is more likely to wiggle and bend a bit in an earthquake than collapse like a typical house. It’s also easier to twist back into functionality in a hurry.
Screen Shot 2020-10-14 at 10.25.02 PM.png
Screen Shot 2020-10-24 at 11.33.35 AM.png
I ordered a do-it-yourself kit months ago from a company in Shaker Heights, Ohio so I’m confident that the system that was designed to endure a Great Lakes winter will surpass my needs here in Northern California. Installation was repeatedly delayed by Covid restrictions, massive forest fires, highway closures, supply chain disruptions, and 107F/42C heat waves. But the components eventually arrived and progress is now underway.
Screen Shot 2020-10-17 at 11.40.51 AM.png
Screen Shot 2020-10-17 at 11.41.01 AM.png
Screen Shot 2020-10-17 at 11.41.10 AM.png
Some years back I explored the possibility of adding on one small room to the existing house and determined it was going to be a $200,000 debt soaked multi year endeavor. Instead, I built a completely legal off grid garden shed that serves well enough as an occasional guest bedroom and home office. It does everything I need and was constructed on a cash basis without violating any rules. Sub rosa adaptation is my preferred option.
Screen Shot 2020-10-17 at 12.51.41 PM.png
Screen Shot 2020-10-17 at 12.51.24 PM.png
The new hoop house is another step along this same trajectory. According to county regulations various “temporary, portable, soft-skinned structures” are completely legal so long as they conform to certain parameters. There are height and size limits, setbacks from the property lines, and a prohibition on electricity and plumbing. There’s a subtle but legally significant distinction between a “greenhouse” and a “hoop house” and I’m determined to stay on the correct side of that line.
Screen Shot 2020-10-22 at 8.07.46 PM.png
One of the complications of building a hoop house in my back garden involved the slope of the land. From one end of the structure to the other there’s a three foot drop in grade. Before I ordered the kit I reached out to the supplier and they provided photos from previous customers who had successfully built hoop houses on similar slopes. It required some adjustments, but it worked.
The highest point of the structure can’t be more than twelve feet tall by law. Due to the slope the top end of the hoop house is nine feet high while the bottom end is twelve. The roof ridge line is dead level, but the legs are incrementally longer as the ground falls away. Once the plastic skin goes up we’ll have to get creative about the little triangular sections at the bottom, but it’s all perfectly do-able.
Screen Shot 2020-10-24 at 11.34.04 AM.png