In this post I will talk about several techniques that can be used to extend the growing season, even to the point of growing during the winter. Although the latter may seem impossible, I will explain.
Succession Planting:
I have used this method for a long time now. This technique is fairly simple and involves multiple plantings (sometimes overlapping) during the growing season to ensure a continuous harvest from Spring to Fall. This works best for vegetables with short maturation times, such as lettuce, spinach, and radishes, even squash and cucumbers..
For example, if you want a continuous supply of lettuce throughout the summer, consider planting 3 times during the season, the first would be in late April or early May, followed by a second planting in mid June. Finally, a third planting in mid to late August will ensure a Fall crop. Typically, lettuce will do the best in cooler weather, so the first and third plantings will probably do the best. The use of shade cloth in hot weather will enhance the lettuce production as it filters a percentage of sunlight from reaching the plants.
This technique works well for almost any vegetable with a maturation time of 4 to 6 weeks
Winter Growing (Winter Harvest) :
This is a technique used to actually grow vegetables during the winter. This is a fairly advanced method but can be accomplished by the home gardener. This technique involves the use of row tunnels (either low or high) to protect the plants during the winter. A wide variety of veggies can be grown including lettuce, spinach, chard, kale, radishes, and carrots.
Overwintered Crops (Spring Harvest):
This method involves over wintering plants for an early Spring harvest. This can be used for vegetables including kale and spinach.
Refer to this Winter Growing Guide from Johnny's Selected Seeds for detailed information on all of the above topics. In the Northeast where the growing season is relatively short, these methods can be useful for the serious gardener.
Season in Review/Harvest Photos:
Unfortunately, this year's growing season has cone to an end (unless you are adventurous and try some winter gardening techniques), as we had our first killing frost on October 16th. The gardening season always goes by fast, leaving us with the long winter to reflect on our gardening.
Overall, I was very satisfied with the gardens this year, despite the very difficult conditions in May and early June. The excessive rainfall and cool temperatures made it very challenging to get the garden underway. The summer was also quite wet but warm enough for optimum growing conditions.
This year's winner was definitely the cucumbers, the best crop I've ever had (see my post of 9/22/17). They must like warm, wet conditions and rotted manure.
The loser was the potatoes, which I replanted three times as they kept rotting before sprouting (see my post of 7/4/17). I finally did end up with some good plants, but it was too late in the season for them to produce potatoes of decent size.
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| Tomato Harvest |
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| Leeks |
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| Last of the Heirloom Tomatoes |
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| Sunflower Glory |
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| Hibiscus in a New Flower Bed |
Project FeederWatch:
In my next post, I will highlight Project FeederWatch, which begins on 11/11/17 and continues through early April of 2018. This is a great, low cost activity for bird watchers and their families. Each week you can record and enter your bird watching data online, which helps track bird population patterns throughout the U.S. and Canada. You can even enter your photos in the photo contests for a chance to win great prizes.
Sign up soon so you receive your project materials on time.
Finally, a nice October sunrise photo.
