3 Easy Ways to Extend Your Vegetable Growing Season

If you live in an area with distinct seasons, there are natural limitations to when you can grow vegetables outdoors. In the spring, you have to wait until the threat of frost has passed and soil temperatures reach acceptable levels. Then, before you know it, shorter days and cooler temps will return to signal the end of your outdoor growing season. Unfortunately, we've already reached this season here in Ohio.... :-( 

Of course, it’s difficult to fight Mother Nature - especially if you hope to win. However, if you learn to work within the boundaries she sets, you can find successful ways to extend your vegetable growing season.

Here are Three Easy Ways to Extend Your Vegetable Growing Season

While you can’t prevent late spring frosts or early blasts of winter, you can mitigate much of the damage caused by these natural events. You simply have to be prepared to provide adequate protection for your tender plants when the need arises.

1. Mulch. Adding a heavy layer of mulch is the easiest way to provide protection for your plants. Mulching around your plants provides a layer of insulation for the soil when temperatures dip too low. It will also help hold in moisture as temperatures rise so you won’t have to water as much.

There are many types of mulch available, including shredded leaves, wood chips, grass clippings, straw and compost. Whatever type of mulch you choose for your food growing area, check to ensure it is free of chemical pesticides and herbicides. For example, if you use a lawn service or chemical treatments to keep your lawn green and free of weeds, you wouldn’t want to use your lawn clippings on your vegetable garden.

A simple coldframe (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

2. Cold Frames. Cold frames are another great way to extend your vegetable-growing season. A cold frame is simply a four-sided structure with a glass or plastic lid on top. They are used to trap in heat from the sun to keep plants warm when temperatures drop.

Cold frames are relatively easy to build. Start by creating a rectangular or square structure out of wood and securing an old glass window or door on top with hinges on one side. This will keep the top from blowing off in the wind and will make it easy to open and shut as you add and remove plants. Potted plants and seedlings can then be placed inside to harden them off or help them survive unexpected dips in temperature. (Just be sure to vent it or lift the lid if the temperature rises outside, so you don't cook your plants!)

In a pinch, you can create a makeshift cold frame with several bales of straw and an old glass window or door panel. Simply arrange the bales in a rectangle, while leaving the interior empty to house your plants. Top with a window or glass-paneled door and securely weigh it down on both ends so it doesn’t fly off in high winds. 

If neither of these options appeal to you, you can always buy a ready-made version at your local garden center or online. You’ll pay more for this option, but won’t have to go through the hassle of finding materials or investing the time to build it yourself.

3. Build a Greenhouse. For many gardeners, a greenhouse is the ultimate gardening dream. How great would it be to have a permanent year-round space to nurture and grow your favorite plants? As an added bonus, a well-designed greenhouse can serve as a beautiful focal point for your property, as well.

Unfortunately, hiring a contractor or purchasing a high-end kit to build a permanent greenhouse can get pretty expensive. Plus, you need to pay to heat the structure part of the year in colder climates. If you rent or have limited outdoor space, a permanent greenhouse may not be a viable option.

However, you can still enjoy many of the benefits a greenhouse offers without the high price tag or long-term commitment. There are a number of very affordable and portable mini-greenhouses available that are lightweight and have a small footprint. These options take advantage of vertical space by providing four or five substantial shelves to house your plants.

With a little planning, these three methods can extend your vegetable growing season. Once you get started, you may be surprised by how much more productive your gardening efforts become!

Autumn Protection for Your Perennial Plants

As your garden comes to the end of its active growth and enters the fall season, you face a big cleanup to get things ready for planting when the weather warms up again. And probably even more important than that, some of your existing perennial plants will need to be protected through the winter and prepared for their new growing season in the spring. In fact, making the preparations that will protect your plants and help them survive until the following spring is absolutely paramount. You can combine this with cleaning up the rest of the garden, but if you do nothing else, at least you must get your more sensitive plants ready to survive the winter.

A cycad plant with its leaves tied for some protection in winter. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Some of your small evergreens, for example, should be wrapped in burlap. Cedars and junipers, dwarf conifers, and other evergreens that are cold sensitive, like holly, need protection from the cold wind and potentially glaring sun of winter. The evergreens that stand upright can have their branches tied together with plastic netting, to make sure they don't break off if there's a lot of snow. The netting will provide this security but still give the plant some room to breathe. Remember also that evergreens need a very good watering just before the winter, because the dry air of winter can dehydrate them.

Roses, too, need to be guarded against the cold weather. They should have any remaining foliage stripped off, and all organic material removed from the soil around them. If they are tall bushes, their main canes should be cut back to perhaps two or three feet in height, and should be tied together in a bundle. These plants, too, can be wrapped in burlap, though in somewhat warmer climates, it might be enough just to add about eight to twelve inches of extra soil or compost around the base of the bush, depending how tall the plant is.

In very cold growing zones, climbing roses and other tender varieties are given even more protection, by being buried right in the ground. They are cut back and bundled as other roses are, with an extra length of twine loose at the top, and then a trench is dug in the soil beside the plants. It is loosened and the bush is gently tipped over until it's lying in the trench, which is then carefully filled in with the previously removed soil, leaving the loose twine exposed so the bush can be found again in the spring. After the soil is well watered, a foot-thick layer of leaves (or a bag full of leaves) is placed on the spot. This keeps the roses protected until April, when the leaves are removed and the plant is retrieved.

Mulched evergreen perennials in a shade garden. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

More general protection of plants that you need to overwinter in the garden can be provided by mulching. Put a layer about two inches thick around trees and shrubs, leaving perhaps an inch of clear space around the stems or trunks. Make the mulch from things like sawdust, peat moss, leaves, bark, or grass clippings. Once a month, through the winter, double check that there is moisture getting down to the soil underneath.

Of course it's important to get the garden cleaned up after a long summer of growing. However, it's even more important to make sure that the plants that will be with you again next summer are given a fighting chance for getting through the winter. Protect them properly, and when spring comes again, they'll be ready to serve as the basis for the new garden season.

Video - Bringing Plants Inside for the Winter

Here is a really quick video on when and how to bring potted plants inside for the winter (despite the title, it really doesn't tell you WHAT plants, other than tropical ones), with a few tips on getting them ready to come in, proper placement, etc. May be helpful for some folks who have a lot of pots out on the patio - now is the time!

Preparing Your Garden For Winter : What Plants to Bring Inside in Winter
Learn how to identify plants that should be brought inside during the winter months in this free video clip about winterizing your garden.