Square Foot Gardening Forum
[table bgcolor=#000000 height=275][tr][td]
Finally doing the Covered Wagon thing Toplef10Finally doing the Covered Wagon thing 1zd3ho10

Hello Guest!
Welcome to the official Square Foot Gardening Forum.
There's lots to learn here by reading as a guest. However, if you become a member (it's free, ad free and spam-free) you'll have access to our large vermiculite databases, our seed exchange spreadsheets, Mel's Mix calculator, and many more members' pictures in the Gallery. Enjoy.

Finally doing the Covered Wagon thing I22gcj10Finally doing the Covered Wagon thing 14dhcg10

[/td][/tr][/table]

Join the forum, it's quick and easy

Square Foot Gardening Forum
[table bgcolor=#000000 height=275][tr][td]
Finally doing the Covered Wagon thing Toplef10Finally doing the Covered Wagon thing 1zd3ho10

Hello Guest!
Welcome to the official Square Foot Gardening Forum.
There's lots to learn here by reading as a guest. However, if you become a member (it's free, ad free and spam-free) you'll have access to our large vermiculite databases, our seed exchange spreadsheets, Mel's Mix calculator, and many more members' pictures in the Gallery. Enjoy.

Finally doing the Covered Wagon thing I22gcj10Finally doing the Covered Wagon thing 14dhcg10

[/td][/tr][/table]
Square Foot Gardening Forum
Would you like to react to this message? Create an account in a few clicks or log in to continue.
Search
 
 

Display results as :
 

 


Rechercher Advanced Search

Latest topics
» Onions. Walk on?
by OhioGardener Today at 9:25 am

» Bokashi
by OhioGardener Today at 8:13 am

» New to SFG and in Virgina
by sanderson Today at 1:38 am

» Compost bins: Open vs. closed
by Scorpio Rising Yesterday at 10:38 am

» Recommended store bought compost - Photos of composts
by sanderson 3/26/2024, 5:56 pm

» 6 metal trellis frames
by docachna 3/25/2024, 4:31 pm

» N & C Midwest: March and April 2024
by Scorpio Rising 3/24/2024, 3:01 pm

» What Have You Picked From Your Garden Today
by OhioGardener 3/24/2024, 1:28 pm

» Senseless Banter...
by OhioGardener 3/23/2024, 6:02 pm

» Joann's fabric bankruptcy
by neefer 3/23/2024, 12:33 am

» New gardener from Santa Fe NM
by CantersVary 3/22/2024, 7:50 pm

» Kiwi's SFG Adventure
by KiwiSFGnewbie 3/22/2024, 5:07 pm

» Heat Mat Temperature Test
by OhioGardener 3/22/2024, 2:09 pm

» Victory Garden Reboot
by Scorpio Rising 3/22/2024, 11:53 am

» Mark's first SFG
by sanderson 3/22/2024, 11:43 am

» Commercial (bagged or bulk) compost question
by Mikesgardn 3/21/2024, 7:09 pm

» Think Spring 2024
by Scorpio Rising 3/20/2024, 10:34 am

» Fire Ring / Round Raised Bed Planter
by sanderson 3/19/2024, 4:51 pm

» Galvanized Fire Ring for Rhubarb Raised Beds?
by OhioGardener 3/18/2024, 10:34 am

» Happy St. Patrick's Day
by Scorpio Rising 3/17/2024, 5:54 pm

» Happy Birthday!!
by Scorpio Rising 3/11/2024, 10:28 am

» What are you eating from your garden today?
by Scorpio Rising 3/10/2024, 8:38 pm

» Why I love Oregano in the garden.
by OhioGardener 3/10/2024, 8:16 am

» Comfrey
by OhioGardener 3/9/2024, 6:07 pm

» Sealing Barrels Flowers Struggling-Need Ideas
by Turan 3/9/2024, 3:09 pm

» Hello again from a slightly different part of Central PA!
by sanderson 3/9/2024, 1:46 pm

» Chicken manure compost
by Oopsiedaisy 3/8/2024, 7:56 pm

» Chinese Broccoli
by sanderson 3/7/2024, 10:28 pm

» Heat Mat Lifespan
by Scorpio Rising 3/7/2024, 9:33 am

» Now is The Time To Take Seed Inventory
by OhioGardener 3/6/2024, 4:36 pm

Google

Search SFG Forum

Finally doing the Covered Wagon thing

+2
shannon1
PeggyC
6 posters

Go down

Finally doing the Covered Wagon thing Empty Finally doing the Covered Wagon thing

Post  PeggyC 4/24/2011, 12:32 am

This will be my 4th year of SFG, and I just today finally bought the PVC to do the cover support like in the SFG book. It's only $1.47/10' of PVC! Why didn't I do this sooner? For the plastic sheeting I bought 6mil sheeting in the paint department, like for drop cloth. I hope that will be tough enough for hail season.

I can't decide between the Covered Wagon look and the criss-cross look. Is one stronger than the other do you think? We have STRONG sustained wind regularly with gusts in the low hurricane range often. We don't have a few scattered hail storms, we have a month or two of almost daily hail storms. (Can you tell I'm not from here? the locals think this is "normal."Evil or Very Mad )

Ooh, and on the Home Page of squarefoot.org there was a "send Mel a Get well card" link. I don't come on here often enough. What's up with Mel I love you?

Thanks everyone! Like a Star @ heaven
PeggyC
PeggyC

Female Posts : 126
Join date : 2010-04-26
Location : Fort Worth, TX

http://www.craftycrofts.blogspot.com

Back to top Go down

Finally doing the Covered Wagon thing Empty Re: Finally doing the Covered Wagon thing

Post  shannon1 4/24/2011, 3:57 am

I just use arches like with the "covered wagon" type and no PVC going across the top. It works fine here and we get some mighty winds. You could always add the top bar if nessiary.
shannon1
shannon1

Posts : 1697
Join date : 2011-04-01
Location : zone 9a St.Johns county FL

Back to top Go down

Finally doing the Covered Wagon thing Empty Re: Finally doing the Covered Wagon thing

Post  Furbalsmom 4/24/2011, 1:04 pm

Peggy

The 6 mil should handle most hail, but I remember Omaha weather, with HUGE hailstones and horrendous winds. If you get biggie hailstones?????

I have both the covered wagon style and the dome hoop support style.

Covered wagon give you a little more room height wise over the whole length of the bed. The crossbar to strengthen the covered wagon, especially in your area, seems to me to be a good addition. Personally, I use the crossbar on the windy Coast of Oregon.

The dome support is pretty darn stable as long as you secure the two hoops together at the top. I used zip-ties.

My suggestion is that either method, don't just set the PVC hoops inside your garden and use the tension created by your frame to secure the hoops. With your wind, you need to either use rebar in the ground with the pvc pipes set over the rebar, or secure the pvc to your frame using conduit straps, or even both.

Good luck, which ever way you go.

BTW, Mel had a bad fall and has had surgery on his hip. He is now in a rehab center. Click on the scroller to get more info and a link for sending Get Well wishes
Furbalsmom
Furbalsmom

Female Posts : 3141
Join date : 2010-06-10
Age : 77
Location : Coastal Oregon, Zone 9a, Heat Zone 2 :(

Back to top Go down

Finally doing the Covered Wagon thing Empty Re: Finally doing the Covered Wagon thing

Post  BackyardBirdGardner 4/24/2011, 1:19 pm

I can't argue with the above statements about hoop strength. You have some experience talking at you there.

I haven't had hail on my 6mil bigger than pea-sized yet. However, I can tell you that anything over 2" diameter hail is going through that plastic. There's just no way any plastic sheeting is strong enough for egg-sized, even ping pong ball sized, hail stones. And, obviously, anything that punches through car windows will make quick work of any plastic.

I can't imagine a world where that is considered "normal." But, if I could, my imagination would definitely picture western OK, KS, NE, etc. I've heard hail can kill a chicken out there.
BackyardBirdGardner
BackyardBirdGardner

Male Posts : 2727
Join date : 2010-12-25
Age : 50
Location : St. Louis, MO

Back to top Go down

Finally doing the Covered Wagon thing Empty Re: Finally doing the Covered Wagon thing

Post  Smartchick 4/25/2011, 4:57 pm

Hey! Another Nebraskan! Thanks, PeggyC. I was wondering this same thing.

I haven't ventured into the hoop house world yet as I figured they would blow away in our lovely Nebraska wind (yep, it's windy here pretty much every day - I remember laughing when I read the SFG book the first time and it said to mix MM on a calm day and thinking, "well this method won't work - we don't have calm days here.")

Furbalsmom, thanks for the advice on the rebar. I'm thinking I may attempt this to extend further into Fall on at least one of my beds.

BBG, I don't know about killing chickens, but it can take out an airplane. I used to travel 3+ weeks a month and was supposed to go to FL leaving on Mother's day a few years ago. We got one of our lovely NE hailstorms the night before and it took out every single plane that had been parked overnight at the Omaha airport. Needless to say, I got to go home and spend the day with my Mom which was the silver lining. Smile
Smartchick
Smartchick

Posts : 105
Join date : 2011-02-18
Location : Omaha, NE, Zone 5

Back to top Go down

Finally doing the Covered Wagon thing Empty Re: Finally doing the Covered Wagon thing

Post  extremesoccermom 4/25/2011, 10:06 pm

My beds are 5X10 I have 4 PVC hoops and a piece of conduit accross the top. It held up well all winter. Mid March, however, we had incredible winds one day. I have the plastic held on with giant clips. They all held but the end PVC pipe pulled out of the rebar. When I got home it was blowing like a kite. I tried to put it back but the wind was blowing to hard. I had to wait until the next day to put it back together.
I purchased the large roll of plastic and cut it to size for each of the beds. I was actually able to double it over. (I did rip it but it was my fault, I got it caught on something and just pulled instead of taking my time). It held up great and the lettuce I planted at the end of the season grew (slowly but it grew) all winter. We had 2 heads for easter.
Finally doing the Covered Wagon thing Garden
Finally doing the Covered Wagon thing Wagonframe
avatar
extremesoccermom

Female Posts : 80
Join date : 2010-05-26
Age : 59
Location : Saint Louis, MO

Back to top Go down

Finally doing the Covered Wagon thing Empty Re: Finally doing the Covered Wagon thing

Post  Sponsored content


Sponsored content


Back to top Go down

Back to top


 
Permissions in this forum:
You cannot reply to topics in this forum