The Hoophouse Handbook: Growing Produce and Flowers in Hoophouses and High Tunnels [Single Issue Magazine]

Lynn Byczynski (Author, Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 19, 2006

A hoophouse is a low-cost, low-tech greenhouse structure that is erected right in the field so plants can be grown in the ground but with some protection from the elements. Hoophouses rely on the sun for heat and natural ventilation for cooling. Hoophouses have been widely used in Europe for decades. Now growers everywhere are discovering the many benefits of growing in a hoophouse: 1. Crops get an earlier start in spring and can be produced later in fall. 2. Cold-hardy crops can be grown all winter. 3. Crops that can't be grown outside because of wind thrive in a hoophouse. 4. Yield and quality in most crops are greatly improved. The Hoophouse Handbook provides an essential introduction to hoophouse horticulture. It describes the most profitable crops to grow, including cut flowers, early and heirloom tomatoes, strawberries, raspberries, salad greens. It offers advice on how to buy, site and build a hoophouse. With more than 50 photos and illustrations, The Hoophouse Handbook makes it easy to get started with this profitable farm business.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Lynn Byczynski is the editor and publisher of Growing for Market, a monthly newsletter for market gardeners and farmers. She is the author of Market Farming Success, and The Flower Farmer.

Product Details

• Single Issue Magazine: 60 pages
• Publisher: Fairplain Publications; 2nd edition (December 19, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0977978117
• ISBN-13: 978-0977978113
• Product Dimensions: 10.8 x 8.1 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #280,503 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

37 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing - I paid too much for too little, June 9, 2010

By 

Simone (Tome, New Mexico) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Hoophouse Handbook: Growing Produce and Flowers in Hoophouses and High Tunnels (Single Issue Magazine)

I should have paid more attention to the listing for this "book." I put off buying it for a long time, because the price was a little high. I was shocked when it arrived because it is not a book, it's a 60 page magazine. For $23. The majority of the book is a series of one to three page articles by different people about their hoophouse experiences. The section on materials, design and construction is 16 pages long. Most of those pages are pictures. For under $20, buy The Winter Harvest Handbook: Year Round Vegetable Production Using Deep Organic Techniques and Unheated Greenhouses and get far more detailed and practical information on hoophouses and similar season extenders.

17 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hoop House Advocate, February 9, 2008

By 

S. Morgan (Cambridge, IL) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Hoophouse Handbook: Growing Produce and Flowers in Hoophouses and High Tunnels (Single Issue Magazine)

I live in the Midwest where corn and soybeans are the predominate agricultural product. The only hoop houses in the area are those erected by retail businesses who sell bedding plants to the public. I have helped raise one of those hoophouses in a parking lot. Lynn Byczynski's directions on how to raise one in the field is more to my needs. It is good to have a source of information that will help me do so. I am sure I am going to get a lot of comments and questions when I do. But, I know from this book that it can be a profitable adventure well worth the time.

14 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Gardening for the future, July 17, 2008

By 

Ozarkflowerlady "Backyard Gardener" (Elkins, AR USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Hoophouse Handbook: Growing Produce and Flowers in Hoophouses and High Tunnels (Single Issue Magazine)

This is a great book. Good information. Description excellent. Service Great. The contents illustrate a way of gardening for the future for both commercial growers and the home gardener. The cost of the hoop tunnel is comparably inexpensive with a payback for just a couple of years.