The Year-Round Hoophouse

Description

Design and build a hoophouse or polytunnel, and grow abundant produce year-round in any climate

• Author's previous book, Sustainable Market Farming has sold over 10,000 copies
• Author has been the garden manager at Twin Oaks Community, a 3.5 acre vegetable garden that grows food for a community of 100 people, for over 20 years
• She has been gardening and managing gardens for 43 years
• She is an experienced writer and speaker
• This is the comprehensive guide to growing in hoophouses, also widely known as polytunnels
• Includes design and construction as well as all of the details needed for successful hoophouse vegetable production
• Based on 15 years research and development of growing in hoophouses including crop trials
• Tried and tested methods for achieving high yields
• Intensive growing in hoophouses can boost farm income, diversify crops, provide greater economic security for farmers
• Hoophouses help reduce the impact of extreme weather events and other climatic variations
• Includes suggestions for various climates
• This book differs from other books on growing in hoophouses in that it covers growing s well as construction and design, how to care for the soil, dealing with salinity issues, and specific tips for growing in various seasons
• Includes sowing and harvesting calendars for North American climates
• Author blogs at www.sustainablemarketfarming.com
• Intended Audience: farmers growing sustainably on a few acres, looking to expand into hoophouse production, wanting to grow specialty crops including seed production, extension service agents, new farmers and training programs, urban farmers, schools and other institutions interested in growing their own food, homesteaders and hobby farmers

International:

• The author farmed in the UK for several years.
• Techniques are applicable to climatic zones in UK and Europe.

Design and build a hoophouse or polytunnel, and grow abundant produce year-round in any climate

The Year-Round Hoophouse is the comprehensive guide to designing and building a hoophouse and making a success of growing abundant, delicious fresh produce all year, whatever your climate and land size. Chapters include:

• Hoophouse siting, size, style, frame construction, and tools
• Bed layout, soil, crop rotations, and extensive coverage of various crops for all seasons
• Organic solutions to pests and diseases
• Disaster preparation
• Tested resources for each chapter.

The Year-Round Hoophouse is ideal for farmers who wish to move into protected growing, as well as beginning farmers in rural and urban spaces. It is an essential reference resource for professors and students of courses in sustainable agriculture, as well as interns and apprentices learning on the job.

Growing in hoophouses – also known as high tunnels or polytunnels – reduces the impact of an increasingly unpredictable climate on crops, mitigates soil erosion, extends the growing season, keeps leafy greens alive through the winter, and enables growers to supply more regional food needs.

Foreword
Acknowledgments
Introduction

Part I: Design, Siting and Construction
1. Hoophouse Siting and Planning
2. Style and Design
3. Shopping Checklist
4. Preparing the Site and the Base
5. Utilities
6. Frame Assembly, Baseboards and Hipboards
7. End Walls
8. Roof Plastic
9. Drip Irrigation and Outfitting Your Hoophouse

Part II: Growing Crops
10. Lettuce
11. Other Salad Greens
12. Cooking Greens
13. Root Crops
14. Alliums
15. Legumes
16. Tomatoes
17. Peppers and Eggplants
18. Cucurbits
19. Crops for High Summer
20. Bare-Root Transplants
21. Seed Crops

Part III: Keeping Everything Working Well
22. Planning and Record-Keeping
23. Cold Weather Care
24. Hot Weather Care
25. Succession Crops
26. Crop Rotations and Sequences
27. Pests and Diseases
28. Salt Build-Up
29. Feeding the Soil
30. Replacing the Plastic
31. Preparing for and Coping with Disasters

Resources
Index
About the Author
About New Society Publishers

Subjects

• Books
• Savoirs
• Technology
• Patios
• High tunnel
• Music school
• Organic horticulture
• Polytunnel
• Sustainable agriculture
• General officer
• Greenhouse
• Organic
• Gardening
• General
• Agriculture

Informations

• Published by: New Society Publishers
• Published: 13 November 2018
• Reads: 0
• EAN13: 9781771422505
• Language: English
• Document size: 4 MB

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