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SEASON EXTENDERS
If you want to squeeze the last bit of productivity out of a summer
crop, you can usually protect the plants from the first few frosts and
extend your season by several weeks. The key is to cover your plants
overnight when you're expecting a frost. There are a number of ways to
go about this, depending on how your garden is planted. For instance,
to preserve trellised vines, such as cucumbers, you can place a
protective layer of straw on the ground, then carefully un-trellis the
vines and lay them on the straw. Once they're on the ground, simply
cover them with clear plastic, a bedspread, layers of newspaper, or a
floating row cover designed for frost protection. Be sure the cover is
well anchored so it doesn't blow away overnight. You can take a
similar approach for non-trellised crops--covering them with an
anchored layer of overnight protection. When the temperature rises in
the morning, be sure to remove the cover to avoid overheating the
plants.
Fall and Winter Vegetable Garden
by Sylvia Ehrhardt
Most gardeners put their gardens to bed too early in the year.
I have found that I grow more and more crops later and later
each year and am amazed at the produce that I harvest—carrots
in December, spinach for Christmas dinner, and lettuce until
the end of January. Extending the growing season is an easy
thing to do. Gardeners think only cool weather vegetables
will grow in the fall garden, but warm season crops do as
well. The last planting of snap beans and corn harvested in
September and October seems to be extra tender and tasty.
The time to start planning and planting for these crops is
in July and August.
The Fall and Winter Garden
There are three types of crops harvested in the fall and winter:
cool season crops - broccoli, Brussel sprouts, carrots, cauliflower,
lettuce, peas, radishes, and turnips.
warm season crops - beans, corn, cucumbers, peppers, squash, and
tomatoes,
crops for fall and winter harvest then wintered over for the
following spring harvest - green onions, kale, leeks, parsley,
spinach, and Swiss chard.
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