Extending Your Fall Growing Season

Cool-weather vegetables, such as lettuce, may not mind the cooler temperatures that come with the fall; but they do tend to mind frost. Especially if you live in a region where early fall frosts are common and the growing season is relatively short, there are a couple of things that you can do to extend your growing season, allowing yourself to harvest more vegetables for the dinner table. Implementing one or both of the methods listed below is quite easy, and both will help to protect your vegetables from sudden cold spells and/or early frosts.

Coldframes
A coldframe is simply a bottomless wooden box, much like one you would build for a raised bed, with a clear glass or plastic lid. If you believe in recycling and reusing -- and you should! -- you can use an old window or glass door as the lid for your coldframe. The glass (or plastic) allows the sun to shine through, thereby heating the inside of the box.

Coldframes generally have one side slightly higher than the other. (Imagine a wedge-shape or one of the forms used in the bean bag toss game.) The coldframe should be slanted towards the south in order to assure that the maximum amount of sun shines down on your plants each day. You should also leave the lid open slightly on really sunny days, so your plants will not overheat. (The lid can be attached with hinges on the upper part of the box; however, this is not really necessary. You can simply lay the lid on the box.) On days/nights when you expect the temperatures to be especially cold, cover the lid with a blanket to hold in the heat during the extreme temperatures.

Row Covers
Row covers can be made by covering metal or plastic hoops to make a tunnel that fits over your rows of plants. You can also make floating row covers by purchasing a lightweight spun fabric designed specifically for this purpose. (This type of fabric can be found at most garden centers.) The floating row cover is then just laid lightly over the plants and anchored down on the sides using either rocks, bricks, or any other heavy objects. You can also use landscaping pegs if you wish. These floating row covers allow in moisture, unlike the hoop-type row covers, and are also better ventilated than the hoop style. (You can, however, poke holes in the clear plastic covering the hoops to improve the ventilation.)

Using either or both of these methods as colder weather approaches and the threat of frost becomes more imminent can protect your fall vegetables. This means that you will have more vegetables to harvest for a longer period of time.

Tip: Both coldframes and row covers can be used in the spring, so you can get an early start on your spring plantings.

References:

Blume, James D. New Garden Book. Des Moines, IA: Meredith Corporation, 1990.

Roth, Susan A. New Complete Guide to Gardening. Des Moines, IA: Meredith Books, 1997.

Organic Gardening. Cold Frames.