Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Hoop House

[Lono Hunter (lonohunter]

Gayle wrote:

>   Now there are many questions about logistics and cost.  We were wondering 
> if there were any cohousing communities that have had experience constructing 
> and using a hoop house.

We were asking similar questions a little more than a year ago and, as I write 
this, a group of neighbors has just finished weeding our 30ftx72ft hoop house 
and it is fully planted out with Spring greens.

I'm happy to talk specifics offline but since others may be interested in the 
bullet points they are:

-We used a Rimol Nor'easter--30ftx72ft kit supplemented with rough cut lumber 
from a nearby sawmill. In Michigan you'll want a similar style with a 
gothic-arch subframe so that it can your handle snow loads.
- Our total cost was a little shy of $7K .
-We did all the work ourselves (including site prep). We put in at least 100 
person-hours. There are some pictures of us in action at our blog. 

We were also fortunate enough that our project was funded by a USDA grant 
through our local NRCS office. This may be an option in your area as well but 
it does require you to meet some basic criteria.

In terms of Neighborhood process this project was shepherded by our Farm Team 
which secured the grant and gifted the hoop house to the Neighborhood which 
agreed to build it, care for it, and generally let it do it's thing. 
This year our Farm has evolved quite a bit and it is run more or less as a CSA 
by a subgroup of neighbors who have hired a young farmer. The hoop house is a 
center-piece of that effort.

Hard to go wrong with tomatoes & eggplant all summer long and fresh greens in 
December. (Did I mention we are in New Hampshire?)

Good luck and, as I say, let me know if you have any more specific questions,

Lono Hunter
Nubanusit Neighborhood & Farm
http://peterboroughcohousing.org/