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 Prepare the soil as soon as it can be worked.
Cover the prepared soil with clear plastic, row covers or high
tunnels for several weeks when planting earlier than normal. This
warms the soil for planting and helps germinate many of the weed
seeds. Lightly cultivate to remove the young weed seedlings without
bringing more weed seeds to the surface. You’ll be pulling fewer
weeds throughout the growing season.
Once the garden is planted, enlist some of these season-extending
helpers (gardeners.com). Homemade and commercial cloches, cold
frames and row covers can help you plant earlier and harvest later
in the season.
Row covers made of spun fabrics let air, light, and water through
while keeping the plants warm. Anchor the fabric with landscape
pins, stones, boards, or other heavy items. Leave enough slack in
the fabrics for the plants to grow. Lighter weight garden fabrics
also protect plants from insect pests like cabbage worms and bean
beetles.
Garden covers take this method one step further. These structures
fit over plantings in the garden, raised beds or elevated planters.
Look for those with durable greenhouse fabric covers that let water
in and keep excess heat out. These types of structures protect
plants from cold and wind, speeding up your harvest by as much as
25%.
Raise the roof on these structures with high tunnels and plant
protection tents. These are perfect for growing tall plants like
tomatoes. As temperatures rise, the tops can be ventilated or in
some cases replaced with a mesh that keeps out insects and critters,
while providing plants enough room to reach full size.
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Or maybe you just can’t wait for that first red ripe
tomato and only want to jump start a row of greens. Garden cloches
have long been used for this purpose. They capture the sun’s warmth
to protect plants from frosty weather. Gardener's Supply Company’s
Early Season Row Cloche Set allows you to expand your protection to
the desired size. These clear PVC plant protectors have water wells
to capture rainwater and gently disperse it to the plants below and
vents for managing the temperature.
Further boost your tomato harvest with red plastic
mulch, red tomato teepees and tomato boosters. University
researchers found using red plastic mulch increased the individual
fruit size and weight and overall tomato harvest by as much as 20
percent. They found the red plastic mulch reflected certain
growth-enhancing wavelengths of light back onto the plants.
With a bit of extra effort and investment you’ll be harvesting fresh
vegetables long before your friends and neighbors. Then be sure to
keep these season-extending devices handy to use again in fall.
Protecting plants from those first few fall frosts can keep you
eating garden-fresh tomatoes, peppers and greens well into winter.
Melinda Myers has written more than 20 gardening books, including
Small Space Gardening. She hosts The Great Courses “How to Grow
Anything” DVD series and the Melinda’s Garden Moment TV & radio
segments. Myers is a columnist and contributing editor for Birds &
Blooms magazine and was commissioned by Gardeners Supply for her
expertise to write this article. Her web site is
www.MelindaMyers.com.
[Photo credit: Photo courtesy of
Gardener’s Supply Company] |
