Beat the cold

I wanted to start a new thread so we can get group tips about how you keep you veggie garden going beyond the first frost. I have several things I do, and I am always looking for new ideas that might be better or easier (or both :)

Try to only list things that you have done, not just read about. Also list things you tried that DIDN'T work: it will help to know what doesn't work, or maybe someone can come up with an idea to make your trial succeed.

Starting with the obvious one: cover your plants when a frost is predicted using sheets, blankets, row cover, whatever you happen to have. Don't use plastic; if you do, don't let the plastic touch the leaves: the cold goes right through.

Actually, you should cover them _before_ a frost is predicted.

A poly-tunnel, for instance, over your fall crops can extend the season for several weeks---or even months.

I would also read Four Seasons Harvest for some really meaningful tips---all based on the experiences of somebody who grows a market garden all through the Maine winters.

I have found that inter-planting my tender vegetables (especially peppers) with an equally tender green manure crop does wonders. I have experimented with buckwheat and wax begonias (sounds odder than it looks). I have found that even without covering the tops of the plants, in a very light frost, the tender vegetable is protected by the felled more tender plant. That is, the dying buckwheat keels over and warms the pepper plant and this prevents damage. Of course, the dead material must be removed quickly or it will cause rot on the vegetable plant. This has saved a few of my harvests when unexpected cold nights hit.

Hi All,

I use a variant of poly tunnel. Using the hardware cloth that comes in rolls. Take a 6ft length leaving one end with the spikes (from cutting the wire) intact. Loop the wire mesh over the bed to be protected sticking the wire spike ends in the soil on the windward side. Cover with a double layer of clear plastic holding down the plastic with either rocks, soil, brick ....something on all sides. Cover the bed before the frost while sunshining to take advantage of solar heat. Be ware the next day to open the plastic unless temps won't get too hot inside.

Im in zone 8a. I have greens, salad, and peas all winter. I've also extended the pepper harvest this way. My tomatos are too tall to use this method unfortunately. Another few weeks would make a world of difference.

Chris

I grow leaf lettuce outside all winter long. I use floating row cover laid directly on top of the plants when the forecast is below 30, or cloudy. Uncovering the plants in sunny weather encourages them to keep growing here in zone 6. I harvest lettuce until early January, then resume harvest in early February. It keeps producing until April, when my new plants start producing.

I keep my root crops all winter using the same method. I leave them in the ground with row cover protecting the foliage. This also helps to prevent the soil from freezing hard, and so the crops are easy to pull when needed. Carrots, beets and potatoes work for me.