Here we go again — high winds vs my hoophouses / greenhouses. Will the garden structures survive?
When I first set up my hoophouse, within a couple of days we had extremely high winds, which picked up the structure and moved it about 12 feet.
Earlier this month, the wind had the Hoophouse rocking and rolling.
Our Wind Protection
What we did to protect the garden hoophouses, was to put a second layer of greenhouse plastic over top and secure it all with thick tow ropes that were anchored to the ground with trampoline stakes. We also used rope inside attaching the frame to the metal trellis that we recently set up, secured to t-posts with metal clips.
All that really helped in the last wind storm that we had pass through.
Today/tomorrow, if the storm hits us, this will be the third test. We have been lucky so far and I’ve been surprised at the strength of this $250 structure!
The Tour
Just “in case”, I thought I should check things out and get a “before” tour, looking at how things are going at the end of November, here in Ontario, Canada (zone 5).
What is doing well?
Carrots
Garlic
Cabbage
Kohlrabi
Parsnips
Strawberry plants
These plants are happy. I covered everything, except the cabbage, after our last -10C cold snap. (The cabbage is just new growth after I harvested it in the fall.) The cabbage is a little silty but still strong. The strawberry plants are in good shape but the fruit and the blossoms on it are frozen.
What is surviving?
Beets
Swiss chard
Peas
The beet, uncovered, is very droopy but I saw a healthy green leaf in the centre. The Swiss Chard is in about the same condition. The peas: the plants are ok but the pea pods are all frozen.
What didn’t make it
Orange trees
This was an experiment. I have a few larger trees in the house. I left three potted 6” trees in the Hoophouse to see how they’d do. After the -10c temperature, they still looked good and I was hopeful but, today, they had all died back. I wonder if they died from lack of water or from the cold? I never thought of that until right now.
That’s the update, the “before” the storm. And, now, I wait and cross my fingers. I am hopeful! - Debbie
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