This morning I quickly assembled a little hoop house to protect my freshly transplanted seedlings. I used PVC pipes and covered them with a few layers of row cover. The seedlings are all in their pots/trays underneath.

I made this hoop house to give the plants a little protection from the bright sun. It dries out the little pots so quickly. The breeze dries them out too. The 3 layers of fabric should let in about 70% of the sunlight and will hold in moisture. It’ll also keep the trays warmer at night.

If it gets too cold, I’ll bring the trays inside overnight. I don’t expect to be able to plant the tomatoes and peppers until May 15 in my home garden. That’s another 3 weeks.

Update on Saturday, April 26:
I changed the covering on my hoop house to a mid-weight clear plastic. It looks better. Also, I think the peppers did not like being outside at this temperature (day time highs of about 50-60, occasionally 70 or 80 F, nights usually down to 40 F). I brought them inside. Everything else seems fine, i.e. tomatoes, lettuce, marigolds, asters, hyssop, cosmos, …