What does "Season Extension" mean to you?
As Mike Nolan asked each group member we listened to responses and it emerged that 'Season Extension', through a variety of methods, is the quest to eat foods out of season.
(Post Contents: Heat, Light, and Not Working TOO Hard)
NOTE: Frost dates vary considerably from year to year.
In Durango our growing season averages a little over 100 days, with the average last spring frost on June 1st and the average first fall frost coming in mid-September. So it's no wonder that we hunger for fresh greens from our gardens for a few more weeks each year.
And don't forget season extension can happen on either end of the season, growing earlier in the spring or growing later in the fall.
To successfully extend out season there are two main factors to plant growth that we need to think about:
In the fall heat comes in to play with our cold nights and unpredictable frosts.
Frost occurs at temperatures below 32 degrees Fahrenheit, essentially water in the plants freezes and can burst or damage cells.
Frost and Frost Damage at OKCG on September 22, 2013
So what's a gardener to do?
If we can keep the air around our plants even a few degrees warmer we can often protect our plants from a light frost.
Floating Row Cover is a great option.
TIP: You plants will freeze on spots
that touch the cover cloth when there
is a frost, hence "floating" row cover.
It is recommended to raise the cloth
above the plants. You can use 9 gauge
wire bent into hoops.
Floating Row Cover (also called cover cloth or Remay) is a woven plastic, it looks like a white sheet, that can be draped over your plants and traps heat radiating from the sun warmed soil to keep your plants warmer during the night.
There are a few different thicknesses that will retain more or less heat (from about 3 degrees to 7 degrees above the outside air temperature). Note: The thicker the row cover the more heat it retains but also the less light penetrates. See the next section for info on why this is important.
|TIP: If you can't get row cover, sheets and blankets work too!|
In the spring, in addition to the danger of frosts, heat comes in to play with seed germination. If the soil isn't warm enough the seeds will just sit there. Place a thick layer of row cover over them to help increase and maintain the soil temperature. You can lay it right on the soil.
TIP: Make sure in the spring to uncover your plants
in the warm day and cover them back before dusk
to maximize the amount of sunlight your new plants
get. Leggy plants could indicate your plants aren't
getting enough sun.
We often over look this important factor, focusing just on the temperature. Less light means longer days to maturity.
In the winter, while the days are so short, even if we can keep our plants above freezing they may not grow very much. Make sure to get your fall crops going early. Mike recommends using transplants (of cool hard crops: spinach, kale, collards, etc.), put them in in September at the latest.
Mike reminded us to work within the means of the land where we live, "don't fight it too hard...an easier way to season extend is to grow a storage garden."
Storage Crops include root vegetables like beets and carrots, onion, garlic, rutabaga, potatoes, and winter squash.
Most of these crops will be planted mid-summer, harvested well into the fall, and (if stored properly) eaten all winter long!
A few tips for storage crops:
- Don't wash the produce before storing. It will wash away the vegetable protective coating and leave it more vulnerable to pathogens and rot. (NOTE: ALWAYS wash your produce before eating it to get rid of pathogens!)
Keep stored produce at a constant temperature. Heating and cooling cycles may bring a vegetable out of its sleeping state and think its time for spring (aka time to grow) which can ultimately cause it to rot or degrade.
- Potatoes, Onions, Garlic, Winter Squash: Store at room temperature or about 50-60 degrees.
- Cabbage, Carrots, Beets, Rutabaga, Kale: Store at 30 degrees.
- Store produce dry and with some air flow. The vegetables are still alive! Keeping them at lower temperatures slows down their respiration but they still need air or they will go bad.
- Some crops need to cure before storage. This is the case with garlic, onions, and potatoes.
ATTRA (National Sustainable Agriculture Information Service)
Season Extension Techniques for Market Gardeners
Mike Nolan of Mountain Roots Produce in Mancos, CO has been farming at 7600 ft. since 2011. He was an apprentice at the University of Santa Cruz Center for Agroecology & Sustainable Food Systems, farmered all over the U.S. for 11 years, and in recent years has taught classes for the local Colorado Master Gardener Program.
The last 2016 Ohana Kuelana Community Garden Workshop is Winterizing Your Garden
on Monday, October 5th at 5:30pm.