hoop house experiment 10/13/10

The Hoop House experiment continues here in northern Wyoming...  My goal is to have fresh greens for a few more months.

I've placed a wireless weather probe in the middle of my 4x4 hoop house down low in the middle of the hoop house close to the plants.

Temperatures (degrees F)... what a huge range!

Low: 28.5
High: 99.5 (before I opened it up to let in fresh air)

Plants growing: Chard, Spinach, Beets, Arugula, Romaine (just about gone to seed!).

A new twist...
I've been thinking and thinking and reading about what I may be able to do to keep my hoop house above freezing.  One article that I read suggested filling 30 gallon barrels with water and putting them on the south side of the hoop house.  Well... excellent idea... but my little hoop house is only 4'x4'!

Adding Water containers... and Soapstone!

But... I do have some large containers that I filled with hot water to give that a try.  Also... we've been cutting soapstone counters for our new home... and knowing that soapstone is used in stoves because they retain heat for long periods... I also added some pieces of soapstone upon which I set the water containers.

So now we'll just see... our low tonight is supposed to be 34 and we're entering a bit of a warming trend over the next few days...

My plants look a little droopy because I transplanted them into this box on Monday... talk about shock!  Cold nights and transplanted!

Oh and Eggplant...

I harvested my Eggplant today because the plants had just had enough of the cold weather and were just withering away...