Interesting Mother Earth News Article. The attached link has somewhat more detail. Here is a link that might be useful: hoophouse plans

Glenda, Your estimate of $1 a can for pumpkin was probably just a number picked to make the math easier, but in reality I doubt you will find it that cheap anywhere. When I have checked it, it was $1.37 for the smallest can and over $2 for the larger pie mix type. I have been watching it because I read an article from Libby that said that we might have trouble finding their pumpkin this year. It said that they believed in canning only the finest pumpkin and had planted huge crops but the weather conditions kept them from getting in the fields at the proper time for harvest. I think this is 2 years in a row with a lowered production. They said they would plant even more for next year. It's nice to know that we can plant our own and are likely to get a good crop. I am making room in my garden for some, and I know just which one I am going to plant. In fact, I probably know about a dozen people that will be planting the same one. LOL Since you have such a large place you don't have a problem, but some of us have to find a way to squeeze all those vining things into a smaller backyard space. I suspect that I will be stepping through a lot of vines this year because there are so many things I want to plant. I have a four foot chain link fence on three sides of my garden. The fence is ours so I can plant on it if I want. My two neighbors will have a choice, I guess. They can cut it back or harvest on their side of the fence. I know it is impossible to contain some of those winter squash vines and some melons. This year I had squash growing up the cages on my peppers and had made themselves quiet comfortable and impossible to move long before I noticed since I always picked the pepper from the path on the other side. Even some of the summer squash can get really big. I planted Zucchetta Rampicante Trombocino in a large tub size container in my yard this year. The vines ran up the five foot tomato cage, then down again to the ground then over 15 feet across the lawn. I kept picking them up and moving them back around the pot so I could mow the grass but finally had to give up and let the grass grow up near the pot because I had a mountain of vines there. I had three vines in the pot and every squash that came off of two of them was wonderful. The third one wasn't nearly as productive and would occasionally produce a hard squash. I will grow it again though because we loved it and it was extremely productive. I only had a few seed left so I let the last squash get larger than normal and haven't cut it yet, hoping I will get more seed to plant. Overall we were very pleased with the squash. It was great just sliced into sticks and stir-fried. I also pickled some and we just opened the first jar last week and really enjoyed it. Al liked it boiled, drained, and topped with parmasen cheese. I have heard some people say they don't like them, but we did.

Thanks for the link, it is an excellent article. The reason that I started a formal potager was my veggie garden was so much work. I edged it with brick to keep a neat edge. I also use the cardboard and newspaper with grass clippings to keep weeds down. I'm so much more pleased with it now and the amount of time that I need to spend to keep it looking good. I've also unsed the lasagne method to start new garden areas right over top of sod. Which is so much easier than digging it out. I don't own a tiller.

I'll answer for Sungold F1 and didn't go back up and see which beefstreak, or the one just called Beefsteak. There are four OP versions of the original Sungold F1, three of them developed by Reinhard Kraft In Germany, a 4th one also exists, and a 5th one may be coming soon as bred by someone here in the US. Are the current four as good as the F1? I don't think so but there are differing opinions. There have been several threads about these here at GW and if you do a search and enter Big Sungold Select I think you'll find more info aboutall 4. About OP versions of F1 hybrids in geneneral, What one does to convert an F1 to an OP is grow out the F1 and save F2 seeds. Then sow those seeds, see what you get with the plants in the next generation. And at the same time in the same season plant some F1's of that same variety for comparisons when making selections form the F2 plants. There are OP versions of Big Boy F1 and several others and I was able to get a good OP version of Ramapo F1 as well. Carolyn