Starting Early, Ending Late

As you may have noticed, spring can be a very fickle time of the year. You can have days in the 70s in March, and in a flash heavy snows threatening on the first day of spring. This can play havoc with a gardener’s need to, of all things … grow.If you were tempted to get out and plant in mid-March you may have jumped the gun. But then, gardeners are risk-takers, and that’s how we learn. Not long ago East End farmers would take the same chances that we do in an attempt to get an early vegetable garden going. Years ago, on a trip to Agway in Bridgehampton or Lynch’s in Southampton on a sunny and temptingly warm Saturday in March, you would run into local farmers and weekenders alike looking for bags and packets of peas and the earliest divisions of spuds.

But while at the Deere tractor dealer in Riverhead a few weeks ago, I was told that in these days of high seed prices few farmers will now take the risk of early planting, because of the high costs involved should a cold snap spoil the early attempts at jumping the season.

For us it’s just a few packets of seed, though. It’s still just as risky, but there is insurance that can protect our efforts. This comes in the form of structures called season extenders, and they can work at both ends of the growing season to get things going a few weeks earlier at the beginning and keep the going longer toward the end. The purpose—beating the cold, the cold air and the cold soil.

However, there are a few things that you should not be tempted to put into the ground until it’s warm, as in soil that’s consistently 60 degrees warm. Tropical crops like tomatoes, peppers, melons and squashes never do well in cold, wet soils, and planting them too early, trying to get a jump with these, will inevitably set them back two weeks or more.

Ah, but there is still plenty that can go into the cooler soils, and this includes most of the salad greens, peas, broccoli and some of the coles. In the “old” days these may have been sown directly into cold frames that could be closed in the afternoon, and they’d stay warm(ish) though the night. But the modern season extenders come in the form of row covers, low tunnels and hoop frames.

Row covers are spun, very lightweight fabric covers such as Reemay, which come in several widths and can also be purchased off the roll at garden centers in any length that suits your garden. These products serve several functions. They protect tender seedlings and plants from frosts and light freezes and since they are very lightweight they put very little pressure on the plants they cover. They diffuse light and also allow the soil to warm gently, then they retain the warmth during the night. Seeds germinate underneath and plants continue to grow as the material protects them and also keeps moisture in the soil.

Row covers, also referred to as floating row covers, can be buried at the sides or stapled into the ground using sod staples, but a few rocks strategically placed can also do the trick. As the days warm, the fabric can be pulled to the side to allow the sun to do its magic, and then if there’s the threat of frost it’s simply draped over the row and removed the next day. In colder spots like the Pine Barrens of Westhampton these fabrics can also be draped over tender annuals and perennials if a late frost threatens.

Then there are the hoops and tunnels. These temporary low structures are rarely more than a foot to 18 inches tall, are supported by wire hoops, and plastic (either clear or white) is run over the hoops to create a greenhouse. In some cases, the ends of these tunnels are left open during the day and closed at night to retain the heat that the soil has absorbed. Other types of covers are perforated and the ends can remain closed. The perforation allows for enough air circulation so seeds and plants inside the tunnels don’t cook, but the structure still maintains a good deal of warmth into the night.

Tunnel and hoop growing takes a bit of practice, depending on how much sun you get and what you want to grow. And as the season gets warmer you can buy lightweight shade coverings that will allow you to grow cool-season crops longer into the warm days of early summer. You can find kits for these tunnels locally or you can search on Google for “grow tunnels,” and basic kits are as little as $25 and should last several years.

For those of you who are handy with tools and have creative minds, there are also other ways to create structures that can extend the garden season. A simple wooden frame covered with clear or milky plastic can be laid over a seed bed or seed row to hasten the warming of the soil and seed germination. Once the seeds germinate they can be hardened or acclimatized by propping up one side of the frame during the day and at night to allow the temperature of the enclosed air and the soil to gradually cool to that of the ambient soil or air temps. The frames can be stored for use in the fall, when they can be used to protect from frost or extend the season for crops such as cutting greens and radishes.

Also keep your eyes open for homes being renovated or demolished. Contractors rarely keep and reuse the old windows, and many of them contain fully usable sashes that can be salvaged for use in the garden. These sashes can be used as covers for makeshift or formal cold frames, or they can simply be leaned against each other in an inverted “V” to created an open-ended greenhouse. A number of these sashes set up side by side can create an entire row enclosure that will allow the sun to warm the crops or plants inside while at night, even with the ends open, the soil will retain some heat and protect from frost and freezes.

Extending the gardening season can be very simple and very inexpensive or cost nothing at all except for your labor. And keep in mind that these structures enable us to start gardening early and keep going late, so they have benefits at both ends of the gardening calendar. Extend your gardening season at both ends, and keep growing.