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By: Kenneth Point
Autumn typically signals the end of home grown vegetables
from the garden, but with a little ingenuity you can harvest
garden fresh produce well into the winter months. My Central
Pennsylvania garden continues to supply fresh vegetables during
the fall and winter when most gardeners in my growing region
are content to dream about next summer’s bounty. Read
on to discover simple tricks that will fortify your garden
against the onslaught of frigid weather.
Fall often delivers brief cold spells with a few frost filled
mornings, sandwiched between weeks of milder, frost-free conditions.
The problem is that a single touch of frost can wipe out every
tender annual growing in the garden. Fortunately, a little
protection will enable frost sensitive vegetables and herbs
to survive a cold snap, and reward the resourceful gardener
with an opportunity to enjoy extended harvests.
Something as simple as the transparent, fleecy, floating
row covers used to shield plants from harmful insects can
also prevent frost damage. Row covers trap the warmth that
radiates up from the earth much like the way that a cloud
cover holds temperatures and prevents frost from forming.
Row covers offer a few degrees of protection, keeping tender
annuals safe from light frost. Use the thicker grade covers
for maximum benefit.
Late summer is the ideal time to sow cold tolerant vegetables
that will flourish in the fall and endure cold weather without
complaint. Examples of hardy vegetables for fall gardening
include: kale, spinach, collards, broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels
Sprouts, kohlrabi, turnips, cabbages, oriental greens, rutabagas,
and some varieties of lettuce.
Once freezing conditions arrive, even cold hardy crops will
appreciate some protection if they remain in the garden. Cardboard
boxes and fruit baskets can provide shelter to individual
plants, while old sheets, blankets, and heavy plastic tarps
will protect entire rows or beds of plants. Apply the coverings
in the evening when freezes are forecast and remove them the
following morning after the sun warms the air.
Another effective solution is to use a commercial variety
of cloche, or to set up a portable cold frame over the garden
bed. Cloches include the heavy glass, bell shaped jars, or
variously styled and shaped rigid plastic devices.
One style of cold frame consists of a tubular frame covered
by a woven poly material with flaps for venting. You can also
obtain sturdier cold frames made with aluminum framing and
twin wall polycarbonate panels that lift up for venting. Regardless
of the type of protection used to cover your plants you must
remove it or provide venting during the day as temperatures
rise.
Resourceful gardeners can combine a few discarded window
sashes and bales of straw to create a simple makeshift cold
frame. Just arrange the straw bales into a rectangular shape
around a garden bed and lay the windows across the top to
form an enclosed and insulated growing area. This setup will
work great to keep a bed of leafy greens growing further into
the winter.
Oddly enough, water can protect and insulate plants from
the cold. Commercial orchards actually spray water and mist
onto their trees to prevent frost damage.
In the home garden you can employ plastic gallon jugs filled
with water to provide protection. Place the containers around
plants, under floating row covers or tarps, and inside of
your cold frames.
The water will absorb and store heat during the day and release
it at night to provide warmth for your plants. You’ll
get the best results by painting the jugs black so that they’ll
absorb more energy from the sun during the day. Incredibly,
even if the water in the container freezes, it will continue
to release a significant amount of heat energy into the surrounding
area.
Certain vegetables will survive on their own in the garden
through bitterly cold conditions. Leeks, kale, and collards
frequently withstand harsh winters without any protection.
Fall planted garlic and shallots will develop strong root
systems in the fall, spend the winter underground, and then
spring up at the earliest signs of the arrival of spring.
Many root crops including beets, carrots, turnips, rutabagas,
and parsnips can be left in the garden protected with a thick
layer of shredded leaves or straw. You can then continue harvesting
as needed, provided that the ground doesn’t freeze and
prevent digging. Complete your harvesting before spring arrives
though, since quality will degrade once the roots resume growing
and switch into seed production mode.
With proper planning and a little extra care you can easily
grow and harvest vegetables beyond the normal spring and summer
seasons. Simply implement a few of the ideas presented in
this article and you’ll soon enjoy your own home grown,
fresh produce much longer than usual, possibly even year-round.
About the author:
Kenneth Point publishes a monthly gardening newsletter and
is the author of the "Amazing Secrets to Growing Luscious
Fruits and Vegetables at Home." For free gardening tips
and information visit his website at http://www.gardeningsecrets.blogspot.com
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