Build Your Own Mini Hoop House in Hours (Video) : TreeHugger

Image credit: TheYardfarmer

With Spring on its way, many gardeners will be dreaming about geodesic dome solar greenhouses, converted swimming pool hoop houses, or maybe a greenhouse built from old soda bottles. But there is an easier way to protect your crops from unexpected cold snaps and get a head start before the summer heat. And all you need is some piping, rebar, string, and some plastic sheeting. That, and a few hours of spare time.

I've seen plenty of examples of home-made mini greenhouses, and have even built a couple myself. But this video from The Yard Farmer is about as simple, efficient and effective as it gets. Rather than building a whole frame for the greenhouse, the idea is simply to drive rebar into the ground at regular intervals, bend plastic piping onto the rebar, and then brace it using string. Then you simply cover your hoop house structure with plastic, which can be rolled up or down as necessary, and you start growing. The best part is that it can all be packed away once it isn't needed anymore and stored out of the wind, sun and rain, ready for the next year.

The trick of stacking milk crates to start more seedlings in limited space is pretty neat too.