By carefullychoosing which crops and varietiesyou produce in your veggie garden , it ’s possible to extend the farm season several hebdomad in the North . But frost is Robert Lee Frost , and finally all but kale and parsnip will fall to its power . For compulsive season extenders , the next footstep is to add together stratum of heat to the garden through screening , ring house and inhuman frames .
In her article called “ Cheat the time of year , ” in the September / October 2012 consequence ofNorthern Gardener , Colleen Vanderlindenoffered 10 ideas for extending the growing season . She note that Maine - based authorEliot Colemanreports that for every layer of concealment you total to a veg garden , you gain onezonein lovingness . So , bestow one stratum of cover moves your garden from Minneapolis to Des Moines ; add a second layer of cover and you ’re in St. Louis .
The simplest layer of cover is to sum up something to protect one or a few plants from other frost — a sheet , a fancy cloche , a plastic milk jugful with the bottom cut out , a row cover . But many time of year extenders desire to be able to reap into November or even December , and for that you need something like a greenhouse . The difference between ahoop house , low tunnel , gamy tunneland afull - on greenhouseisn’t strictly a subject of semantics ; generally a glasshouse is a more permanent structure whereas a basketball hoop house or low or gamey tunnel is irregular .
This high tunnel at a school provides greens early and late in the season.
What most rest home veg gardeners are seek is a low tunnel or hoop house , which can be made out of PVC pipe or electric conduits that are bended around a raise bottom to make a frame . The systema skeletale is then covered with plastic of some kind ( Colleen urge unsubdivided painting drop clothes for small low tunnel ) . you could find several videos on youtube onhow to build a ring business firm on the trashy . Most of these are made by home nurseryman and offer creative melodic theme on how to build a simple tunnell . In making your basket house , it ’s important that you be capable to move the plastic screening off or on the build easily . Our weather is erratic — even more than usual in late age — and fall day can go from 20 stage to 60 in a snap and your garden could get very lovesome cursorily . Another consideration is jazz . I ’ve tried severalhome - made coveringson my garden and battening them down against the gale - force winds in my field has been a challenge .
A low tunnel is nifty for give works the extra Day or weeks they take to finish spring up . Also , if you start some Spinacia oleracea , lettuce or other greens in late August , you should be able to leave them in a low tunnel or ring house and harvest well into the fall .
How do you extend your horticulture time of year ?
A gardener harvests in relative comfort inside a high tunnel.
— Mary Lahr Schier
Tomorrow : Preserving the crop .
