Today our guest writer is Clifford Dean Scholz, a green devotee for decades and a volunteer hoophouse builder.

We talk a lot these days about how “green” a person, business or group is, but personally I can’t think of anything greener than opening the door of a passive-solar hoophouse in February to find beds teeming with lush spinach, lettuce, and baby Asian greens.

Hoophouses are enclosures typically made of tubular steel and covered in translucent plastic. Heated only by winter sunshine, they help plants grow green and vibrant when most of Michigan is covered in snow.

But that’s not the only thing that makes them “green.” Since most of our winter vegetables are trucked in from hundreds or even thousands of miles away, using this cost-effective way to produce vitamin-packed veggies locally nets us significant energy savings.

Aware of this and the need to keep our food dollars in Michigan and develop the local food system in every way, Ann Arbor’s Selma Cafe launched an ambitious hoophouse-building initiative. Its purpose is to expand hoophouse-constructed local food capacity by harnessing the energy of hundreds of volunteers.

Lisa Gottlieb and Jeff McCabe are the cofounders of the cafe. “Hoophouses are very magical tools for creating food year-round in a northern climate,” says Jeff, who was supervising the builds at a recent hoophouse construction event. “In the summertime it’s like bringing Georgia to Michigan,” which benefits hot-season crops like tomatoes. “For cold season crops like spinach, it’s actually a better climate than you’ll find anywhere.”

Volunteers are occasionally wined-and-dined at day’s end, but they are always amply coffee-and-bageled to start the morning and fed a hearty lunch. Some describe the builds as an updated version of classic American barn-raisings. The community that forms and the illuminating conversations that accompany the work are as amazing as seeing these immense structures go up in a single day. Hoops have been installed on private, nonprofit, as well as publicly-controlled lands.

As a volunteer I’ve enjoyed the opportunity to roll up my sleeves and create a better future by helping local food producers come into the market. I may not be any greener, but I sure am getting a nice suntan!

To find out more about this and future SELMA initiatives, visit the site. If you'd like to grow your own food in a hoop, apply to the Selma Cafe's Hoophouse Construction Program.

More about our guest writer: Clifford Dean Scholz is a poet, artist, organic gardener, student of Peak Oil, freelance writer/editor and energy educator. Currently his main focus is community building and connecting the process of inner transformation and sustainable lifestyle shifts. See more hoophouse photos and links to the blog that describes them.

Linda Lombardini lives green and happily raises as many greens as possible at her Ann Arbor backyard. You can contact her at Linda@TrilliumRealtors.com.