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How to Extend Your Vegetable Growing Season

By: Richard Murray

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Many vegetable farmers feel that as soon as the weather begins to cool down, the growing season is over. This not true in most areas of the country, in fact, in many zones, gardening can be continued all the way through the winter season. Winter gardening not only will improve the condition of the fertility of your soil and keep it in top notch condition, but you will be able to harvest mouth-watering produce that is not only less expensive but of much higher quality than the vegetables available at your local supermarket at this time of the year.

By learning the mean date of the first killing frost in your region, you basically plant the winter crops early enough so that they are mature before that killer frost arrives. The USDA North America Gardening Zones map shows the dates for your information.

Examples of crops that generally mature in 90 days are; beets, carrots, parsnips, rutabaga, globe onions, Brussels sprouts, cabbages, cauliflower and beans.

Examples of crops that generally mature in 60 days include, early carrots, leeks, Turnips, kohlrabi, early cabbage and Swiss chard.

Examples of crops that generally mature in 30 days include, chives, bunching onions, radishes, and broccoli, Leaf lettuces, mustard greens and spinach.
There are also tangible methods to extend the growing season well into winter.

Wind breaks and shelters
Taking advantage of windbreaks and walls can raise the ambient temperature of your garden by as much as 10 to 15 degrees. Planting close to a south facing wall or structure allows for reflected solar energy to be concentrated on your plants.

Cloches

Cloches are like tiny greenhouses and provide solar warmth for your crops. They come in various configurations designed for rows or individual plants, and or can be as simple as an empty gallon plastic bottle with its bottom cut out.

Cold frames and hot beds

A cold frame is a structure built to specifically grow plants in colder weather and can lengthen the growing season to a large degree. The ideal cold frame is about 18 inches at the back sloping downwards in a southerly direction to 12 inches in the front. An old window sash is a good solution and can be any dimension. Remember to allow for ventilation, on a sunny winter day it can get extremely hot under that glass. During cold spells, it is advisable to cover the cold frame with a tarp or burlap to provide some extra insulation.
A hot bed is a cold frame with a source of heat under the soil; this can be something sich as electric heating cables, although the tried and true system of a deep layer of decomposing manure will provide enough heat to keep the hot bed frost free.

Greenhouses

A greenhouse is probably the perfect solution to the problems of cold weather gardening. They can be heated or not and come in a variety of sizes and forms. Remember to carefully tend to the greenhouse by providing the correct temperature ranges. When it gets too warm in the green house, it absolutely needs to be ventilated or your crops may be severely damaged.

Other Considerations

Mulching and cover crops

Use mulch on your winter garden. It helps to insulate the plants roots, it discourages the winter growth of grasses and weeds, it reduces moisture loss and helps prevent erosion. When spring arrives, remove the mulch or till it in. If left on top of the soil, the soil will not warm up as fast and it is much easier to sow seeds or plant in soil without mulch.

Mulch can be any macrobiotic material such as compost, leaves, peat moss, straw, hay, shredded newspapers, grass clippings etc. After mulching add a dusting of lime or fertilizer, 2 or 3 in. of manure, and till it in to a depth of 8 to 10 inches. The decomposition of these organic materials over the winter, will add valuable nutrients to your garden. After this is done, plant with a cover crop of fast growing green plants winter rye or legumes; this will create an environmentally friendly green manure.

This is also a good time to test your soil PH for its value. Vegetables normally do well in a slightly acidic soil condition. Check with your local extension service for more guidance on this subject. Soil testing kits are quite inexpensive and will give first-rate results.

Your garden {journal

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Keep a record of what, where and when you planted your various crops and the results obtained. This data will be invaluable in your future gardening efforts.

The USDA North American Vegetable Growing Zone Map is here for your convenience.

Article Source: http://depositarticles.com/

Dick Murray is a retired urbanite who has kept his passion for gardening alive with the creation of an informational web site . More and more families are beginning to grow their own fruits and vegetables due to their increased concern regarding the quality, price and safety of our food supplies.

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