Hmm I really do need to get back to sewing too, but some things are just easier and more enjoyable to do when the weather is still reasonable! (Although I do still have a cut-out-ready-to-try pair of pants on the sewing table waiting for me.)

This year the hubs & I are going to try our hand at having some produce in the garden overwinter. After a bit of research, we hit the local Home Depot for a pile o’PVC. 

1/2 -inch PVC

We also got 1/2″ rebar in two-foot lengths. Luckily, most of them were not bent much, and didn’t have a lot rough edges sticking out – there was just enough room inside the PVC for the rebar! – although we did end up having to use a ten-pound sledge on one to smooth it out a bit.

We hammered the rebar into the ground, then used those stakes to prop the PVC.

the hunk of wood didn’t take well to the hammer

Sliding a PVC pipe over one rebar, bending it over to other side and sliding it onto the opposite rebar gave us hoops. Adding a cross piece gives structural stability as well, and that was attached with zip ties. It’s too warm yet to put any plastic or garden cloth over the hoops (that is not a complaint, Mother Nature!!), but they are ready when it’s time. 

hoops, hoops, and more hoops

The further garden (Blair Block) has kohlrabi and garlic, the closer one (Squish Square) is full of young beets. It sounds like you can’t really start plants in the cold – at least outside – but you supposedly can at least keep the existing ones happy enough. It’s a first try for us, so we’ll see how it goes.

PS You can kind of see Martina at the far right – full of kale seedlings. We’ll be trying floating row covers on that bed, and assuming that the groundhogs won’t be around to get the hog’s share like they did this summer!