Farm Snapshot–Hoophouses, by Jeanne and Steve

This is the first year that we are able to use our new hoophouses on the terraced field at our Lewis Road ranch. As with all big farm projects, installing the hoophouses took longer and cost more than expected, but so far we’re delighted with how they are working out. A hoophouse differs from a greenhouse in that it tends to be more temporary in nature, crops are planted directly into the soil instead of in trays or pots on benches, and the ends open wide to allow tractors to pass through. Basically we can treat the fields in the hoophouses just like any other field by rolling up the ends to perform tractor operations like working up beds, cultivating and planting. We also installed a water-efficient irrigation system with low-flow, semi-circle sprinklers along the inside edges of the hoophouses.

One of the challenges of being a CSA farm is trying to produce a diverse enough variety of vegetables and fruit to satisfy farm subscribers. We are lucky living where we do that we really can produce an astonishingly wide variety of vegetables, but in any given place, some things grow better than others. The climate in our area happens to be optimal for growing lettuces and greens, so we rarely have trouble growing enough of these items. It is also good for cole crops (cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli), carrots, onions, beets, turnips, potatoes, fennel, and radishes. And that this is a prime strawberry growing area is also clear from the explosion of acres converted to strawberries each year on the Central Coast. With our new Lewis Road site, we can more easily grow crops that like it warmer in summer, and the hoophouses make it even more possible. We’ve already harvested crops of carrots, spinach, beets, lacinato kale, and some early lettuces from the hoophouses this year. Now the hoophouses are full of 8 varieties of tomatoes, 3 varieties of peppers, and 3 or 4 varieties of eggplants, as well as basil, and they all are benefitting greatly from the extra heat that the hoophouses provide.

We’re especially excited this year with our tomato plantings. After everyone around us had such a dreadful tomato year last year, we are really looking forward to having an abundance of tomatoes of different varieties this year.