PVC to Row cover Garden through the winter

Finished Frame Work

Wanting to grow all year round in a zone 6 requires some creative solutions.  I decided this year we would build some row covers for our raised beds in our yard.  This will not allow me to grow the tomatoes and cucumbers I wish I could grow year round but will hopefully provide me with enough carrots, lettuce, spinach and such to have fresh garden salads all winter.

Must have ratcheting Cutters

I went down to the local big box home improvement store and picked up a ton of 1/2"x10' pieces of PVC along with this I got some bulk packs of 90s and Ts.  This is a affordable project because PVC is inexpensive at under $2 per piece you can build a sizable structure for not that much money.  I am guessing the 4'x12' bed in my picture has about $25 in materials to build the frame at under 10 pieces of PVC and 16 fittings.

Pile of Parts

I had a mental vision of what I would be building so I drew up a little sketch and decided to cover my 4'x12' beds. I would build a frame around the perimeter and just hoop full pipes over the beds. I believe 3 foot spacing on the hoops should be enough as long as I help with removal of snow.  I cut my pipe with a ratcheting PVC cutter and it is worth every penny so much quicker then a hack saw. I chose to glue my joints although many people say just push them together I did not want it coming apart while I bumped it.  I am guessing these will stay in place year round and possibly be used as a trellis in the summer time.  I was not pleased with the excess bowing in the middle so I added just a single cross support to help relieve the tension. I will be working on the other beds this weekend and adding the plastic covering.  I may possibly trying out some other designs for the other beds.

Bow in pipe before adding support

Added support