The purpose of a hoophouse is for season extension.

When your growing season is short, such as in Canada, a market gardener must take every means possible to produce as much as possible in the little time we have to do it.

One of our jobs as a market farmer is to find ways to control the growing conditions in order to protect our crops from the cold and frost in both early spring and late fall.

What Is A Hoophouse?

A hoophouse is a permanent structure made of semicircular steel hoops bolted down and covered with plastic film.

Hoophouses are relatively low, easy to build, and usually not heated.

One of the main advantages of hoophouses is that they can be used all year long. 

These shelters can be used for early spring and late fall crops, before and after summer crops

How Do You Use A Hoophouse?

You use a hoophouse to extend your growing season in both the spring and fall. Hoophouses are used to grow both early spring and late fall crops.

Hoophouses are typically lightweight because they are designed to move, not necessarily be a stationary fixture on your farm.

Some are designed to be somewhat portable so that you can cover different crops at certain times of the growing season.

What Is The Difference Between A Hoophouse And A Greenhouse?

The greatest difference between a hoophouse and a greenhouse is that the greenhouse has greater structural stability and provides supplementary heat.

A hoophouse is typically not heated.

A greenhouse is generally placed in a permanent position, where a hoophouse can be designed lightweight so it can be moved to cover different crops in your market garden.

Where Can You Buy A Hoophouse?

Hoophouses come in many models and are available from most greenhouse suppliers.

Since new structures can be expensive, you may decide to make your own by bending steel pipes with a metal bender.

Another option to reduce cost is to look for a used hoophouse. This may mean that you have to dismantle someone’s old structure and transport it yourself, but the money saved makes it worth the trouble.

Whichever way you decide to go about procuring a hoophouse, you will not regret it. A hoophouse is one of the best investments a market gardener can make. 

Sales from crops grown in such a protected environment will pay for the hoophouse within a few seasons, if not the first.

Where Should Your Hoophouse Be Located?

Hoophouses are permanent or semi-permanent structures, so they must be positioned carefully on your property.

For permanent hoophouses, you need to make sure there is proper soil drainage beforehand so the beds are dry enough in the spring. The best drainage solution is to install weeping tile around the structure. 

You also must make sure you have proper ventilation for your growing area. This is accomplished by doors on either end and sides you can roll up. Be sure to account for this when planning the location of your hoophouse.

What Can You Grow In A Hoophouse?

While you can grow pretty much any vegetable in a hoophouse, they are usually reserved for your high-profit crops like cucumbers, peppers, and tomatoes. As well, they can be used to extend the season of basil, spinach, and mesculin mix.

There really is no limit, you can extend the season on whichever kind of veggies that is worth your while to do so. This will be different from farm to farm as your clientele will dictate what veggies you should grow.

Bottom Line

Using a hoophouse allows you to maximize your harvest in June, when your customers are super excited for homegrown fresh veg. 

The early bird gets the worm, so to speak. The quicker you can have your veg at the farmer’s market, the better. You can get leg up on the competition this way. 

Also, hoophouses allow you to produce not just earlier veg but better veg, and more of them!

The improved quality and yield are the best reasons to adopt season extension techniques, like using a hoophouse.

At our farm, we are currently on the hunt for a used hoophouse. Hopefully we find one for sale sometime this winter!

However we go about getting one, we will be documenting the process and sharing it so you can learn right along with us. Oh, the adventures we will have!

Do you use a hoophouse or other season extension on your market farm? If so, what veg do you grow in them? Let us know in the comments below.

Stay Local,

Kathy & Jon

your friendly neighbourhood growers