Hoop House Reflection | Chandler Archbell

During the fabrication of our hoop house, we learned the importance of working with specific sites and taking extra measures to keep the structure anchored to the ground.  Our original intent was to stake the rear structural poles into the ground while keeping the front poles unanchored (mainly because the hoop house sat at the edge of the road).  Within two days of our hoop house review, a heavy gust of wind lifted up our entire structure and threw it into the shed at Healcrest.  We soon learned that our chosen site was in the middle of a wind tunnel at the top of the hill, and the protruding canopy in the front acted like a kite.  Better ground anchoring and a closer look at the weather conditions of the site could have prevented this.  When we rebuilt our hoop house, we relocated it to a spot between the shed and the existing greenhouse which shelters it from the wind.  We also took extra measures to anchor down every pole securely to the ground to prevent any more disasters.