I wanted to reply to the question about how to store row cover when not in use. I am the assistant manager at Charlestown Cooperative Farm in Phoenixville, PA, and a past intern came up with this great system.
We have the row cover rolled up on PVC pipe and it stands upright along the walls of the upstairs of our barn. We are then able to roll out the row cover when we want to cover a crop. When we need to pick up the row cover we position the PVC pipe across two carpentry horses. The horses have a wood top and two metal handles that hold the pipe in place. We use a handle to crank the PVC pipe while the row cover is being wound up onto the pipe. This handle fits on the end of the pipe — made of PVC elbows and pieces of PVC pipe fittings. Some of our row cover covers two beds at a time and when we roll these wide pieces up, we just fold it in half first before we roll it up. A piece of bailing twine is used to tie the roll at the end and it is brought back to the barn until next time. We write the length of the piece on the PVC pipe with a Sharpie market so it’s easy to identify which rolls go with different fields.
Abygail Wright
Pnoenixville, PA