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Frank Wertheim, Extension Educator: "OK, so once you've got your rigid PVC piping attached,
you need these 1/2-inch PVC pipes that come in ten-foot lengths. I usually cut one foot
off to make it a nine-footer, which gives you just about the right height of the hoop
when you put it across your raised bed. Over here, we have one that's already finished
and ready to go. I've modified it with compost. You can see these are a little bit different--these
are wider, it looks like a 1.5-inch PVC, and then you've got a little bit wider pipe here,
so you can really adjust and use different types of materials, whatever you have available.
"So now what I'm going to do is, I'm going to attach channels to the outside board here
that are going to hold the plastic in place. I'm going to attach my channels. Again, I'm
going to leave a little gap here so it will be enough room when I roll my sheet of plastic
that it's going to fit into this groove. The secret to holding the plastic in place once
you've got it tucked in is to have these turnbuckles, so I'm just going to attach one sheetrock
screw on the bottom end. Now you can put it in the open position.
"So we've got our right-sized piece of plastic with our batting strips stapled on, and I'm
just going to bring that down. I can roll it up a little bit and tuck it into the channel,
and we have our little mini greenhouse. At the ends, I'm just going to tuck it in and
weigh it down with some rocks--actually some bricks are a little bit heavier and would
probably work a little bit better, so the wind doesn't take it.
"Early on in the season--let's say, early April--as soon as you can get in here and
there's no more snow, get this on, and what that will do is start warming the soil. With
season extension, not only is it important to have an inside warm environment for the
plants, but you have to have the soil warm up, too. So having this on about two weeks
and having it fully closed, before you put your plants in there, will warm the soil up.
Then, later in the season, towards the end of April, you've got your plants in there,
and a sunny day like today, the sun is beating really strong, it can actually get too hot
in there with a closed-up system, so what we're going to do is turn this into a little
mini roll-up greenhouse.
"So what I'm going to use for my really high-tech system here are these inexpensive hardware
clamps you get for about a dollar apiece, and that's all there is to it. Before you
go to work in the morning, you have to sort of judge what kind of day it's going to be,
and if it's going to be a warm day, you want to roll it you want to roll it up and get
some kind of aeration going, and you can do the same thing from the sides to get some
kind of cross-ventilation."