Hoopy House

So, I went through a serious bout with lung cancer and came out on the other side. I learned many, many things from that experience. Among them, that you truly ARE what you eat and that WHAT we eat (if we don't pay strict attention) is not all that good for us and indeed, may contribute to serious illness in the body that may be totally unnecessary. While I do not believe my cancer was caused by my diet, I do believe that my diet NOW should be the very best it can be, lest I contract some other malady that does me in.

 And so, I had to convert my raised garden bed to a hoop house garden. Why? Well, the summers here are getting to be so hot that things don't grow. Oh, did I mention that organically grown vegetables are significantly higher in vitamins and much more nutrient dense than those grown in a mono-agriculture farm that is over-dosed with fertilizers? THAT, is why I have the raised bed, and the hoop house will allow me to grow stuff for 10 months out of the year, giving me great fresh and wholesome nutrition just a few steps from my door, whenever I want it.

 Now anyone who knows about hoop houses, knows that they are just gardens covered with a poly film to create a kind of hot house environment to extend the seasons when things get frosty and downright cold. Mine has to do double duty. The summers here in Arkansas have gotten so hot that even watering twice a day, the sun just blisters everything. So I built a hoop house on top of my raised garden, but because I am looking to shield the sun I used a garden shade mesh instead of a poly film. In the cooler months I will switch out the mesh for a poly cover and just keep on keepin' on.

 Here are a couple of pictures of the Summer version of the hoop house.