Post by littleminnie on Dec 5, 2012 21:47:38 GMT -5
This is about getting the most production out of Northern gardens through season extension and interval/succession planting. Obviously the first step is good soil; this is the next step.
Well I am no Eliot Coleman but season extension and interval planting are passions of mine now a days. Like him, I like to see how I can work with nature and not use heated high tunnels etc. MN is even colder, darker and more extreme than Maine though. This year November and the beginning of this month have been pretty mild and dry. We have had a low of 6 so far though, and the lowest high temp was around 25. Many times we have snow cover in December all the way through early April but now with global 'weirding' it is possible to push the season back in fall and forward in spring quite a bit more than some years ago.
Here is a photo of how I have been keeping stuff alive this fall. All the cold hardy greens and roots have been fine under 2 layers of lightweight row cover (insect/summer weight is what I have). They have some wire hoops keeping the row cover just above the bed. I did not cover the broccoli, cauliflower and cabbage due to height but I can see they are much less cold hardy than greens and roots. Napa cabbage is the least cold hardy.
Of the greens and roots I have kept the following alive under the row cover down to 6 degrees: spinach, kale, arugula, baby lettuce, white turnips, kohlrabi, beets, chard, rutabagas, carrots, baby bok choy, broccoli rabe, radishes, pea shoots, leeks, scallions. Cilantro and parsley also live for some time in cold even though not 'perennials'. Adult kale that was not covered up perished below 10 degrees but the leaves that were hunkered down a little survived and so a thick mulch could keep it alive. Siberian is hardier than Russian and Red Russian is hardier than White Russian. Even borage weeds lived under the row cover for some time. It was dead as of yesterday since it went so low now.
I picked yesterday and took the cover off some of the beds to be done with them but I think I have gathered a good amount of info already. I had a vole nest in the turnips and beets/chard; he was very fat. So now I have spinach, baby kale and some volunteer lettuce and baby chard left under cover. 3 beds are still covered. Spinach will overwinter here in ok winters so I assume I will see it again when the snow melts (if we have snow).
Some of the veggies have been actually growing not just surviving. I have seen growth on baby beet and chard leaves, turnip roots, baby bok choy, kale, spinach and lettuce.
In spring I am building at least one low tunnel. I plan to put row cover on and green house film and then switch to shade fabric in summer. There are many possibilities for what to put in it in a year. As a market gardener I focus on what will sell well. I think using a filled in hole type 'cellar' inside a low tunnel is a neat idea. I am short so low tunnels are not too uncomfortable for me. I will be building mine about 3.5 feet high and 9 feet wide to cover 2 beds with a path down the middle. I should be able to scoot along down that path but reaching across to the edges will be tough.
Well I am no Eliot Coleman but season extension and interval planting are passions of mine now a days. Like him, I like to see how I can work with nature and not use heated high tunnels etc. MN is even colder, darker and more extreme than Maine though. This year November and the beginning of this month have been pretty mild and dry. We have had a low of 6 so far though, and the lowest high temp was around 25. Many times we have snow cover in December all the way through early April but now with global 'weirding' it is possible to push the season back in fall and forward in spring quite a bit more than some years ago.
Here is a photo of how I have been keeping stuff alive this fall. All the cold hardy greens and roots have been fine under 2 layers of lightweight row cover (insect/summer weight is what I have). They have some wire hoops keeping the row cover just above the bed. I did not cover the broccoli, cauliflower and cabbage due to height but I can see they are much less cold hardy than greens and roots. Napa cabbage is the least cold hardy.
Of the greens and roots I have kept the following alive under the row cover down to 6 degrees: spinach, kale, arugula, baby lettuce, white turnips, kohlrabi, beets, chard, rutabagas, carrots, baby bok choy, broccoli rabe, radishes, pea shoots, leeks, scallions. Cilantro and parsley also live for some time in cold even though not 'perennials'. Adult kale that was not covered up perished below 10 degrees but the leaves that were hunkered down a little survived and so a thick mulch could keep it alive. Siberian is hardier than Russian and Red Russian is hardier than White Russian. Even borage weeds lived under the row cover for some time. It was dead as of yesterday since it went so low now.
I picked yesterday and took the cover off some of the beds to be done with them but I think I have gathered a good amount of info already. I had a vole nest in the turnips and beets/chard; he was very fat. So now I have spinach, baby kale and some volunteer lettuce and baby chard left under cover. 3 beds are still covered. Spinach will overwinter here in ok winters so I assume I will see it again when the snow melts (if we have snow).
Some of the veggies have been actually growing not just surviving. I have seen growth on baby beet and chard leaves, turnip roots, baby bok choy, kale, spinach and lettuce.
In spring I am building at least one low tunnel. I plan to put row cover on and green house film and then switch to shade fabric in summer. There are many possibilities for what to put in it in a year. As a market gardener I focus on what will sell well. I think using a filled in hole type 'cellar' inside a low tunnel is a neat idea. I am short so low tunnels are not too uncomfortable for me. I will be building mine about 3.5 feet high and 9 feet wide to cover 2 beds with a path down the middle. I should be able to scoot along down that path but reaching across to the edges will be tough.
