Extending Your Season's Crops

For the past several years I have tried to extend the gardening season. We live in East Durham, New York in what is mapped as Zones 4-5. We are also at about 1300’ so it tends to get colder sooner in the fall. I also have a greenhouse, so I can start plants sooner in the spring. Whether you live in the county like me, or live in a city you can both get things going sooner and end the season later if you just do a few things to help extend your season. We'll be discussing sources of information for the indoor gardener, the best vegetables to grow indoors, and tools such as row covers.

First let me tell you that if you are not growing at least some of your food yourself you are missing both the best food possible as well as the great feeling of growing your own food. The food is always better tasting and more healthy than store bought food. While there are many great sources for the information you will need, my choice for the two best sources are Mother Earth News and Johnny’s Selected Seeds. Additionally, the best book on the subject of season extenders is sold through Johnny’s, The Winter Harvest Handbook by Eliot Coleman. I consider it the bible of the extended season gardener. The book is designed for the traditional gardener but the tools and techniques will work just as well with a little adjustments to growers using a New York City roof garden or a surburban back yard. When I lived on 30th Street and Fifth Avenue in NYC I had a small 3’ wide terrace and was able to adjust the techniques.

The beauty of extending your season means that you can start growing crops early and for almost 8 months (here in the Northeast.) You can start by just growing lettuce, Japanese greens and cherry tomatoes. I never order salad in most restaurants simply because it always tastes plastic and tasteless. Growing your own salad ingredients will be a constant reminder of how food should taste. The short story here is that by using small covered gardens you are protecting your plants and can get the equivalent of +10 to +20 degrees of added heat. To cover your crops you can use row covers and both low and high row tunnels. To see a video of how this works, click HERE.Here is an example of a simple row cover. This is made of 1/2 inch bent electrical conduit. Below is a picture of the bender which is sold through Johnny's for $53-$59.In my garden I install these directly in the ground, but for city gardeners a simple 2"x4" frame can be used. If you have a raised bed, they can be installed directly on the raised bed frame.

Normally at this time of year I write about energy savings such as sealing air leaks around windows and doors, having your heating system cleaned and checked by a professional, purchasing fuel from a local supplier at a locked in price to avoid price increases in the height of the season and programming your thermostat to save energy. Most of those suggestions are located in other places in our website so I will assume if any of these subjects are of interest, you will follow this link. (The information is located on the bottom of the Newsletter link page.)

If you have any questions please feel free to write me and I will try and help. I promise you that once you've eaten your own home grown food you will only want to add new crops each year. Good growing. PS: A special shout out to Eric Goldschein, my blogging mentor whose work can be found at:www.ericgoldschein.com.