So, I have run out of time and money. I had been thinking about some mechanism to grow food into winter. Repairs to other areas cost me time and greenhouses seem a little out of reach for this season. So I started looking at hoops. But by the time I grab all the materials, it almost seems like I could buy a kit of some sort just as cheaply. I am still leaning towards pvc hoops...but thought I would ask about options here.

@UrbanWild ... some years ago I bought two hoophouses similar to these on Ebay (mine also came from Ebay): http://www.ebay.com/itm/15x7x7...

Unfortunately, after one season the plastic covers on mine began to deteriorate (they were obviously not "UV protected" ) and it took us a couple of years to figure out how to re-cover them without a lot of drilling into the steel frame, etc. We did eventually come up with a solution, and built a wooden frame that is attached to the steel frame without any drilling into the steel; this is seriously one of the best things that ever happened to my garden, and for the price I agree that you could not start from scratch and build something similar. Hopefully the covering on these "newer models" would last longer than the ones that I bought... but even if not, if this size is something on the order of what you are thinking about I would highly recommend going this route just to get the steel framework.

This is one of my steel hoop frames, with the addition of some wood 1x4's and 3-mil plastic



I used the other one to make a trellis, by covering the frame with "remesh" (concrete reinforcing wire)



This past summer I grew 8 tomato plants (4 Viva Italia, 2 Martino's Roma, and 2 Beaverlodge Slicer) in the one in the first photo, and was able to put those plants in the ground a month earlier than normal and harvested an incredible amount of tomatoes from which I made salsa, sauce, juice, canned tomatoes, and soup.

I've also used "low tunnels" made of 10' PVC pipes covered with plastic, which are fine for growing shorter crops. Mostly I've planted onions in the fall, which have done well for me and started re-growing in the spring, providing us with both green onions and decent early bulb onions, once the weather warms up in spring.

I hope this is helpful... and that you will enjoy extending your season using some sort of hoop house or greenhouse, whatever sort of structure you choose!

Here are a couple shots from a temporary half hoop house I put up for the winter on the side of the house. I got the idea from someone on here. The 1/2" PVC pipes are anchored in the ground with lengths of rebar hammered in the ground with the PVC threaded into it at the base. The eaves of the house hold it in place as it bends on the other end. Instead of plastic all the way around, I bought $10 awning surround on Amazon. They have windows for those fancy outdoor occasions using a pop up shade thingy. It helped to let the light in. I clipped it to the PVC with biner clips and tarp clips. I did buy plastic sheeting for the ends and over lapped them to make a "door".

Oh. let me add. I bought 3 sheets of insulation with the silver Mylar and placed it against the wall of the house where the sun shines. It reflected the sunlight back into the little half greenhouse. There were days when I had to open both sides of to keep it cool!