Constructing a hoop house to protect produce from climate extremes.
Jarrett Kazhe (left) and Ariel Gallerito (right) construct a hoop house using two-inch PVC pipe as ribs. The total cost for materials for a 14-foot by 40-foot hoop house is around $1,400. The hoop house has extended the growing season by two months (one at the beginning, and another at the end). Before construction of the hoop houses, a typical harvest from a growing season was around 500 pounds of produce. Due to the warming climate, crops are now started inside a hoop house—which protects against extreme weather events, reduces evaporative loss, and extends the growing season. Production on the same lot has quadrupled to around 2,450 pounds of produce harvested in a growing season. Image credit: Michael Montoya, Sovereign Nations Service Corps, Mescalero Apache Tribe. Used with permission.