Hoop House Class

I went to a hoop house class from WNC last month, and it was really neat to see the different hoop and greenhouses at Lattin Farms and at Ray Johnson's farm in Silver Springs.  I loved seeing the green, lush plants in the middle of winter.  Here are some of the things we saw:  (all but the last picture are taken at the Johnson Farm in Silver Springs)

This a one of the hoop houses with a cover crop planted to be used for a green manure.


When we walked in the hoop house, the smell was incredible.  See the wild strawberries plants growing on the right?  There were so many ripe, red strawberries on them, and they smelled so good, it was seriously all I could do to keep myself from tasting some.  So jealous!

 These are the strawberries he has growing outside-they are day neutral strawberries (For more info, check out this site:  http://ccesuffolk.org/assets/Horticulture-Leaflets/Growing-Day-Neutral-Strawberries-In-Home-Gardens.pdf.  Incredible crop!  I need these at my house!

 This shows how they put shade cloth over the hoop houses to keep them cooler in the summer.  Otherwise, it gets so hot inside, it just cooks the plants.

 Here he is uncovering Hawaiin Ginger, which is a specialty crop that is bringing in a pretty penny right now.

 Here are some lettuce plants they were uncovering for the day.  They started these a couple of weeks ago.  They water with something called T tape.  I am excited to try it out.

 Shade cloths tied down.

 Older lettuce plants-don't they look tasty?  I want to grow lettuce year round for my family.

 Oh-This one is at Lattin Farm.  I think this is Bee Ann's hobby hoop house.  Where's mine?  hehe