YEAR-ROUND HARVESTING

Gardeners tend to take the first and last average frost dates, add a couple of weeks to either end of that time frame, and call it our gardening season.  In the Piedmont section of Virginia, that usually translates to a time between April 1st and November 1st.  If that’s your thought process, you’re selling yourself way short, both in terms of gardening pleasure and in the enjoyment of the freshest food available.

Now, it’s true that we can grow just about anything at any time of the year, with the right light and heating requirements.  The question is, at what cost?  A more practical approach is to figure out how best to extend our growing or harvest season with the least amount of input.

It’s hard to say where the ideas have come from that expand our gardening season.  Some have come from years of reading books and magazines.  Some have come from trial and error.  A good number have come from Master Gardener training and other master gardeners.  The most concentrated information, and must-reading, is found in the Virginia Master Gardener Manual and in Eliot Coleman’s Four Season Harvest1.  A trip to Monticello offers great ideas on how Thomas Jefferson used cold frames, hot caps, best exposure, and rock walls to beat ole man winter on both ends of the growing season.

Let’s start with some of the easiest, least expensive ideas.  Selecting seeds is certainly the first place to start.  Most seed catalogs will offer suggestions on early, mid, and late varieties of vegetables and flowers.  For example, Johnny’s Selected Seeds utilizes symbols indicating traits like cold tolerant, greenhouse performer, suited for containers, and many others.  Use the germination and growing temperature information when making your selections, and be sure to notice the USDA plant hardiness map information.

Extending your gardening season may be as simple as starting plants indoors.  Broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, chard, lettuce, sweet potatoes, and tomatoes are the easiest to transplant.  Celery, eggplant, melons, onions, and peppers take a bit more care.  Crops that do not transplant well include beans, carrots, corn, cucumber, okra, peas, and squash.  A greenhouse is ideal for starting seed, but not every gardener is so lucky.  For centuries, the answer has been cold frames and hot caps.  A simple frame covered with either glass or plastic will do nicely.  For best results, be sure to face your cold frame to the south.

Both wind and sun play an important roll in plant growth.  A simple change to a southern exposure or to an area protected from harsh winds can add weeks to your growing season.  Cinderblocks or bales of straw can enclose small areas and are especially useful if you use intensive gardening methods.  You may also use PVC pipe and clear plastic to make a frame to protect your plants.  Make sure that you can open your structure easily on warm days to avoid excessive temperature.  Should you wish to make a PVC frame, you’ll want to use short sections of pipe and rubber to cheaply attach your plastic.  Simply cut 4-inch sections of both, split the pipe the long way, stretch the plastic, then place the rubber over the frame and cover with the split pipe.  You will also need some way to anchor your frame in high winds.

Just how serious are you?  A year full of food recalls may have you wondering about your food sources and handling techniques.  Perhaps it’s time to get serious about safe, quality food.  Transportation costs may now have food prices at a point where you can save real money by growing your own.  Do so and you’ll certainly know what products and practices were used on the things you put into your body each and every day.

Go on the internet and word search “high tunnels.”  What you’ll find is a structure that looks exactly like a greenhouse in various heights and without heat.  These structures are your ticket to year-round harvesting.  Add row covers and solar mulch and central Virginia becomes your year-round supermarket.  Visit the websites of our leading agricultural colleges, and you’ll find plenty of research on growing in high tunnels, along with some really inexpensive plans to construct your own tunnels.

It isn’t practical to try growing everything in a high tunnel.  You may be unfamiliar with some of the crops that do well in our area.  The coldest couple of months may only be harvest months, but with careful planning, you can eat an assortment of healthy vegetables all year long.  Beets, broccoli, carrots, kale, lettuce, green onions, parsley, spinach, and turnips make up the backbone of the plan.  Lesser-known crops like arugula, green chicory, dandelion, endive, kohlrabi, mazuna, radicchio, sorrel, and tatsoi fill in the open spaces. 

Year-round gardening may be just the thing for you.  You may only be interested in extending your season a month on either end.  You’ll have to decide.  Early peas, late carrots, tomatoes in June, indoor strawberries, French melons out of season….. who knows what combinations will fit into your schedule.  April 1st and November 1st are no longer the boundaries.  Plant breeders, plastics, glass, and coverings now make it possible for a most bountiful harvest in every month of the year.  Give it a try!  Your Heart of Virginia Master Gardeners are always ready to help.  Give us a call!

1 Four-Season Harvest, Eliot Coleman, Revised and Expanded,

  ISBN 1-890132-27-6, Chelsea Green Publishing Company