New Hoop House Pics! Grant Approved!

Last time I checked the greenhouse grant money was only for few specific states and Oregon wasn't one of them.

USDA came to measure my site last week. Randy you sure are blessed to have it up and going. I am working on one on an other site and it is not a kit. I really like them and hope to have mine done by at least june. I have been approved for a 75' x 30'one from usda. I think they said About 7 grand is what I will be getting in my grant. I am having to place french drains around mine to take away the run off water. and have my soil tested. Did you have some of those issues?

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You speak of two markedly different things. But as long as you bring up REA, consider that the REA put the gov't in direct competition with private enterprise. FDR used taxpayer dollars to put other taxpaying individuals out of business or to harm their business. Today many farmers get subsidies that give them an unfair advantage over those that don't, and which makes them beholden to those that stand by their principles and don't take the money. I fell into that trap many years back, never again.

If you can sleep knowing you're adding to the problem, fine, go for it. But lets not pretend this free money comes with no strings attached, does no harm or is anything other than a vote buying machine in the end. There's no difference between the guy taking a grant for his business and the welfare queen with her hand out for more stuff in the end. It's all coming out of someone elses pocket.

Nice pics and congrats on getting the grant!

well, if you buy grant money then don't whine about obama phones or welfare queens - only difference is labels -

You don't even have your facts straight.

"private enterprise" meaning the urban electric companies, of the time, HAD NO INTENTION, of sepending their own money, to run over 260,000 miles of power lines and wire 500,000 rural farms, to collect a few cents per month, for electricity.

http://www.ljec.coop/content/history...ation-and-ljec

http://eh.net/encyclopedia/article/m...stration.rural


If you live in the country and are enjoying the fact, that Uncle Sam spent taxpayer money, to furnish you with electricity, the you are part of the problem, also.

Otherwise, you'd only be reading a book, by oil lamp, since there is no way "private enterprise" would have run electricity to your home - ever, IMO.

Het Randy I pmed you as this seems to annoy some.

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Big D Farm Blog

Are we culturing a vineyard of sour grapes?

It's been public funds - lots of public funds, that have gone to private companies, farmers, and corporations, to build expensive railroads, dams, canals, highways, highly productive farms, space rockets, cruise missiles, etc. etc, endeavors that private companies could not ,or would not invest their own money in, that incidentally, has made America the most productive and prosperous country on earth.

Now that times are tough, maybe it was all for naught.

If hoop houses prove to be useful and profitable, certainly more will invest in them with their own money, maybe increasing their own profits and the availability of more locally grown products, longer times of the year.

We might build one ourselves, but it would be nice to know, what results could be expected, before investing several grand in one.

Good luck to those who could actually get one. I pay plenty of taxes and am glad to see the small producer, get some benefit to increase their yields - for a change..

Speaking of grapes, just saw on TV, where a producer, is using hoop houses, to grow lots of beautiful and delicious grapes - in Ireland.

How many square feet is this? It looks bigger than my house! Sure will be nice to work in.

Apparently you never heard of companies like Homelight, Delco, etc. that built light plants for home use. There was no need for FDRs make work project from the standpoint of the farmer or rural dweller that wanted and could afford a light plant. If you couldn't afford it, oh well. That's life. As our population increased the private companies would have eventually run the lines. Your attempt to equate massive public works projects of the New Deal Era with individual grants today is nonsense. Whats more, the particular example you chose, the REA, had it's last project in 1964 from what I could find and yet today still exists with a budget of $6.4 BILLION dollars. Now there's a great way to spend our money! Goodness knows there must be thousands of Amish farmers without electricity........

If I live in this country I enjoy many things- roads, bridges, postal service, a functioning military. That's about all I need from the Federal gov't thank you very much.

Well, this has went off course. I hope any of you that could not afford a hoop house, look at this thread as a way to possible get one. It was not free, i spent $$ and a lot of time building it. I am excited about growing stuff early in it.

Not only have i paid a ton of taxes in the last 30 years of working. But the amount of time that i donated and money that was not reinbursed for working in social services far dwarfs the amount of money that this grant paid. Every week I spent part of my paycheck to buy rec supplies like yarn and crafts, Soda's because a kid has got a good grade or had a bad parent visit. Spending all night driving my vehicle looking for a run away kid on a freezing night. All the days i came home with bruises breaking up fights, all the hours that were spent teaching drivers ed in my car. This grant pales in comparison to this.

So i don't feel bad, I feel blessed. Blessed that I worked with so many great teenagers. Blessed that I got a new hoop house.

randy

It takes a vision, a viliage,.........Think Solindra.......What a flippin' waste! I knew a guy who makes a life out of stuff like this. builds a machine to do something like make giant paper blocks from scrap paper and cut them to size for building blocks, publishes the plans and gets paid by uncle sugar. of course, it goes nowhere because the machine is crap and the blocks are ditto, but the check is what's important. Of course, part of THAT goes to Senator Foghorn, and the cycle begins again.

If a project is worthy and worthwhile, somebody will step up and put his money where his mouth is and make it work, because it will create profits, and profits make the world go around and pay taxes. If nobody will touch it with private money, it's a loser, beginning to end. That's the litmus test. If nobody but the government is willing to finance it, it flunks the stupid or not stupid test.

If a private enterprise must accept public funds to endure, it's not profitable. If it's not profitable, it deserves to go under. it SHOULD go under, because it's a bad idea. The very definition of a bad idea is one that cannot stand on it's own, but must steal to endure.

have to stop now, before I break my keyboard.....Joe

Randy, I'm glad you got your house, good for you. I wasn't aiming at you, but at the gov't that robs Peter to pay Paul and get Pauls votes. As they say, as long as they are robbing Peter to pay Paul, you'll never hear Paul complain. The reason you and I paid a ton a of taxes, far more than we'll ever get back, is because we've allowed gov't to grow so large. I feel that if all of us took the stand of refusing to be part of the system on the receiving end, things would eventually change. There are far, far too many people out there with the "where's mines?!!" attitude. I'm not saying you are one of these, but the habit seems endemic. This leads to problems like we see up north here where our working poor and elderly can only get very limited assistance from programs like HEAP (home heating assistance) simply because there is so little money available and so many people applying for it that seem to have the money to pay for the ATVs, big screen plasmas, $150.00 sneakers, new snowmobile, smart phone, etc.

I apologize if you took it personally. It wasn't intended that way.

No $150 sneakers for me or kids. No big screen plasma, in fact still use the TV that my wife and I got for a wedding present 22 years ago. No cable. No snowmobile, No smart phone. Son in college, stays at home. two kids with braces $300 per month. I share what I grow.

Randy, thanks for posting! I sent the info to my daughter...they could really use something like that!

Mon

I take it you don't have a high wind area? ONce I had a project but used tarps but secured much the same way. By year 3-4 I had to replace it all because the wind was too hard where it was secured and wore holes :/

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I'm sitting here wondering what happens after the first good hail storm?

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This is the government the Founding Fathers warned us about.....

Hail is hard on the plastic. bb's bounce off. larger could make holes. too many hole means new plastic.

Wind is everything about how it is tied down. The poles all 26 of them are beat in the ground almost three feet. Unless we have a tornado right on top of us, it won't move. The top plastic that needs to be tighter is held down with wiggle wire. Wiggle wire is very good at holding the plastic in. although one rip in the wrong spot will split very quickly through the house. the front and back are held by wiggle wire around the arch and nails and a plastic lathe along all the boards. I would guess that we have had 50 mile an hour wind so far with no issues. i would guess unless we have a tornado real close, it should be ok after i tighten. The plastic needs to be changed ever 4-5 years.

Randy, thanks for all your information here and during our phone calls. I filled out my application today with the help of the County Agent and others in the office. It was quick and painless. Actually they were excited to help me and are anxious to visit my farm to help nail down the best location. I'm looking forward to their visit.

This is exciting for my wife and I. I'm handicapped and this will allow me to do more varieties of vegetables because I will have a few extra weeks to get everything done and not have to rush thru the growing season with just 2 or 3 things planted.

Thanks for posting your pictures and keeping us informed about your progress.