Give Me Some Shade...
Last Spring we spent over $8,000 on shade cloth to protect the peppers and the strawberries from the intense summer sun. We are happy to report that it worked wonders on the peppers and ok on the Strawberries. I can say that we harvested more usable peppers, enough to pay for their shade cloth. The strawberries will take a couple more years to pay for theirs.
The cloth reduces sunlight by only 30% but it is enough to stop sunburn on the peppers. Now we have to roll it up and put it away safely until next year. The sheets are 20 feet wide by 300 feet long.