Extending your Vegetable Garden’s Growing Season by 4 to 6 Weeks – In Both Spring and Fall

Today I want to assist many of you who are wondering how to extend your growing season for a few more weeks. For some it may be too late, as in high elevations like Randolph, Utah, where it was below freezing more than one night in August, but most of the lower elevations in Utah and around the country are still frost-free as I’m writing this article.

How can you deal with the special challenges of living in colder climates? Several difficult weather conditions make successful vegetable gardening an “iffy” proposition, unless you learn how to protect your plants against them. The Mittleider vegetable gardening books are excellent sources of information on this topic. Let’s discuss briefly what these challenges are, and how you can successfully mitigate their negative effects.

First off, many places have late spring frosts, which keep us from getting started in our gardens – often until mid or late May. Second, many of us have strong winds throughout the growing season that buffet our plants and dry everything out. Third, others of us face the scarcity and cost of water. And finally, we often have early crop-killing frosts, usually followed by several weeks of mild weather that could support continued growth and harvesting.

So how do you handle the shorter growing season with unseasonable frosts, the constant drying winds, and the lack of water? Let’s deal with the wind first, since the solution to that also helps reduce the other problems. To protect your garden’s tender plants, build solid fences or plant trees and shrubs between your garden and the prevailing winds – but put them far enough away that you do not shade your garden! So rifaximin help me to do my work best, because this antibiotic https://www.buygenericmds.com/rifaximin-xifaxan-rifagut work very good, generic Xifaxan can be delivered to United States, United Kingdom. Always remember that the First Law of plant growth is light, and growing vegetables need direct sunshine at least 6-8 hours, and preferably all day long. This means that you also want to place your shade trees so as to leave the garden in full sun.

Some of you do container gardening, or raised boxes. When these are subjected to hot winds they are difficult to keep cool and moist. Consider either larger Grow-Boxes – we recommend 18″ or 4′ wide and up to 30′ in length – or growing in the regular soil. Remember that Dr. Jacob Mittleider promises “a great garden in any soil, in almost any climate.”

Next is watering. You will save ½ or more on your water usage by following these procedures. And it’s amazing how much heat and wind plants can handle if they are properly fed and watered. First, make certain your Grow-Boxes or raised soil-beds are accurately leveled, and that soil-beds have a 4″ ridge around them. Then apply 1″ of water right at the soil surface (not by sprinkling!) before your soil becomes the least bit dry – even every day in the heat of summer if needed. This will place the precious water right at the plant roots, and waste none. Finally, automating your watering using ¾” PVC pipes, with 3 tiny #57 holes every 4″, will make watering fast, easy, and efficient.

Extending your growing season is accomplished in two ways. Next February and March we’ll discuss the first, which is how to grow healthy seedlings in a protected environment and transplant them into the garden after the danger of frost is past. The second thing you can do, even right now if frost hasn’t already killed your garden, is to make “Mini-Greenhouses” for covering your plants. By themselves they are good, but with a small heat source they can extend your growing season in both Spring and Fall even more, often by 4-6 weeks.

Use PVC pipe, bent in a capital “A” shape, but with a 6″ flat top, to fit your bed or box, and covered with 6 mil greenhouse plastic. This provides some protection against frost at night, and will warm the plants on cold days. Cover the edges with dirt all around, and open up when it gets warm. More details are at http://www.growfood.com in the Blog and FAQ sections. And of course the best source for Dr. Jacob Mittleider’s gardening wisdom is The Mittleider Gardening Course book at the same location in the Shop section.

My Favorite Greenhouse And 6 Reasons Why It Will Be Yours Also

I’ve owned commercial-built greenhouses, and I have built and owned some from scratch. I believe the seedling greenhouse I have now is about the best you can get for the money – for several reasons.

It is a Jacob R. Mittleider-designed greenhouse, and the plans are available FREE simply by going to https://growfood.com/freebies/ and downloading them.

Following are some of the reasons I believe you will be pleased for a very long time when you build and use the Mittleider greenhouse:

1) It is very strong, and will withstand virtually any amount of snow or wind. The one we use in Getk, Armenia has been through numerous bad hail storms and several very hard winters without damage other than plastic replacement. And the one we built in Madagascar had to have the plastic cover replaced after the third typhoon hit, but the structure was still perfect at last report.

2) It is less costly than comparable sized commercial models.

3) While not “portable” it can be disassembled and moved, simply by building with screws, rather than nails.

4) The Layout was planned by a man who is really expert in time management and volume production, especially as they relate to producing seedlings and growing food.

5) Built-in continuous ventilators running the length of the roof and along the walls make electric fans unnecessary, and assure ample ventilation in the hottest conditions with no additional costs, equipment, or maintenance.

6) If 8 or 10 mil dual or triple-wall polycarbonate is used, it is very efficient to heat. And even with just two layers of 6 mil plastic the Getk greenhouse maintains internal temperatures several degrees above outside temperatures throughout the night. Another covering option is nylon reinforced greenhouse plastic from Northern Greenhouse Sales, in Neche, ND. http://www.northerngreenhouse.com/ I recommend 8 mil clear, which holds up very well for many years against strong winds. And tell Bob Davis I sent you 🙂

I highly recommend these greenhouse plans for anyone serous about growing your own seedlings – or if you want or need to extend your growing season by growing crops in the greenhouse. They can be had free at https://growfood.com/freebies/

The Mittleider Gardening Course and Grow-Bed Gardening books include the greenhouse plans, and teach all you need to know about this subject. They can be purchased in the Shop section at the Foundation website. A digital copy costs 30-40% less than the paper version, and is available instantly!

Get your greenhouse plans NOW and be growing within a week!

Extend Growing Season 6 Weeks in Both Spring And Fall With An Inexpensive In-The-Garden Greenhouse

All who are interested in extending your growing season – particularly with vertical plants – may want to use Mini-Greenhouses in the early spring, and simple, inexpensive In-The-Garden Greenhouses in the fall.

You can plant 4-6 weeks earlier in the Spring, and harvest 4-6 weeks later in the fall if you do it properly. For pictures, visit the Photos page on the Group website at the Yahoo Groups Mittleider Gardening Group – the URL is listed at the bottom of this article. Look at the Mini-Greenhouses, which are bent PVC pipes or wire, covered with greenhouse plastic, for the solution in early spring. And look at the Covered T-Frames for protecting mature crops in the late fall.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with the simple and highly effective sustainable, intensive gardening methods taught and demonstrated world-wide by Dr. Jacob R. Mittleider, I recommend you visit the Food For Everyone Foundation website – www.growfood.com – where Dr. Mittleider’s seminal work is preserved and presented. Go to the Freebies section to learn the basics, and look in the Apendix (P. 276-281) of The Mittleider Gardening Course book for excellent illustrations of in-the-garden greenhouses. This will make it much easier to understand what you are reading below, and help you build them yourself.

I recommend you save the following description of covered T-Frames:

In a garden with 18″ X 30′ beds and 3 1/2′ aisles, place 8 T-Frames at 10′ intervals in two adjacent beds parallel with the outside stakes, so that the 4″ X 4″ posts are 6 1/2′ apart. The top of the “T” should be 32″ long, and thus the width of both together is 8′.

For stability, nail each set of two T-Frames together, bridging the gap between them with 8′ long 2″ X 4″s. Next, tie all T-Frames together lengthwise using 6 – 10′ 2 X 4’s. Now you have a 8′ X 30′ greenhouse frame covering two Grow-Beds or Grow-Boxes (containers).

Alternatively, make A-Frames covering two adjacent beds by replacing the 2 – 32″ tops with a single 8′ top.

Buy 32 – 3/4″ 45 degree PVC elbows and 1″ pipe straps. Nail or screw the straps and elbows at 2-foot intervals along both sides of the 2 X 4 frame, with the elbows facing up and to the center of the greenhouse.

Buy 16 – 10′-long pieces of 3/4″ PVC Schedule 200 pipe, 16 – 3/4″ pipe straps, and 4 – 8′ pieces of 1″ X 2″ lumber. Cut the PVC pipe and the 1″ X 2″ lumber to to 7 1/2′ lengths. Nail the 1 X 2’s together, using the 6″ pieces, making a single piece 30′ long. Nail or screw the 3/4″ pipe straps to the 1 X 2″ wood at 2-foot intervals, on the same side of the wood as the 6″ pieces which hold the wood together. Insert the 3/4″ PVC pipes through the straps. With the wood on top, insert the PVC pieces into the 45 degree PVC elbows – creating the arched roof.

Buy a roll of 6-mil 24′-wide greenhouse plastic at least 39′ long (do NOT use construction plastic. It will become brittle and tear within 3-4 months). Cover the greenhouse, with 4 1/2′ overlapping on each end.

Buy 8 – 1″-long eye bolts and 130′ of 1/4″ nylon rope. Attach eye bolts on the side of each T-Frame T – 1″ in from the edge and 1″ down from the top. Cut rope into 8 – 16′ lengths. Tie one end of rope to each eye bolt. Hammer a 3 1/2″ nail into the top of the 2″ X 4″ on the upper outside edge near the eye bolt. Tie short loops into ropes at 10′, 12′ and 14′ to give 3 levels of opening the sides of your greenhouse plastic.

Buy 16 – 8′-long pieces of 1″ X 2″ lumber. Cut all to 7 1/2′ lengths. Cut 2 into 4 – 3 3/4′ lengths. Place wood on both side edges of greenhouse plastic along both sides of greenhouse and screw together, sandwiching the plastic between the two pieces of wood. Alternate lengths of 1″ X 2″ between 3 3/4′ and 7 1/2′, to make the entire 30′ length strong. Roll plastic sides up in warm weather, and lower when cold weather threatens.

Fold and attach plastic on ends to secure an air-tight covering in cold weather, and open when weather is warm.

The URL for the Gardening Group with pictures of the two “greenhouses” is http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MittleiderMethodGardening/