Undercover Device: The Cloche

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Still another option is the tunnel cloche, which is about as close to a greenhouse as one can get. The tunnel cloche stretches over a long row—nineteen or twenty feet is not uncommon—and can span a four-or five-foot-wide bed with ease. It consists of a frame covered with translucent material, usually clear plastic sheeting. Its chief advantage lies in the great area it can cover, which suits today's wide-bed style of cultivation. Its chief disadvantage is that it's hard to move from one site to another. Certain types, such as those made of heavy reinforcing wire that's permanently covered with plastic, are cumbersome and dif ficult to store, relocate, or even open for ventilation ...although they could probably keep plants safe from all but a hurricane. Another variety utilizes spring-steel hoops thrust into the ground and then overlaid with plastic sheeting. The plastic is clamped in place with a second series of hoops that fit over, or beside, the first ones. Hoops can also be made from lengths of reinforcement rod or half-inch PVC pipe that are then covered with plastic sheeting.

Whatever the shape, size, or material, any of these cloches can significantly affect the site in which crops are to grow, trapping the radiant energy of the sun to heat the enclosed soil and air; protecting the area from wind, rain, and frost; and in general supplying a suitable climate for young plants.

AN EMERGENCY TUNNEL

At MOTHER's Eco-Village we use various methods to help extend the season, including south-facing beds with protective rock walls that provide shelter and heat-storing thermal mass ...hotbeds warmed with deep-dug, decomposing organic materials ...and a variety of structures or devices such as greenhouses and cloches. Some of the latter are on trial for possible later incorporation into the EcoVillage routine, and others are in regular use.

Then again, some come into being because of an emergency. Such was the case with our PVC tunnel cloches.

You see, we needed a cover photograph featuring "My MOTHER's House" for our Homebuilding and Shelter Guide (stock No. 64162, available from Mother's Bookshelf for $12.95 plus $1.50 for postage and handling). Now, magazine articles, promotional pieces, cover art, and other published items must all be put together weeks—even months—before they're printed and released. So, although we wanted to show the house with its summer garden, the photograph had to be taken at the beginning of May ...less than a week after the last spring frost and long before summer flowers and vegetables would be ready. To solve the problem, our gardeners decided to start the necessary seedlings in a greenhouse in midwinter, and then build tunnel cloches to cover the long beds in front of the house, which would permit the young plants to be transferred early to their permanent location and allow them to mature in time for the camera.

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