Extending Your Garden Growing Season in Utah, Gardening Guidebook for Utah ~ Utah Master Gardeners ` For more information, Please see websites below: ` Organic Edible Schoolyards & Gardening with Children = http://scribd.com/doc/239851214 ~ ` Double Food Production from your School Garden with Organic Tech = http://scribd.com/doc/239851079 ~ ` Free School Gardening Art Posters = http://scribd.com/doc/239851159 ~ ` Increase Food Production with Companion Planting in your School Garden = http://scribd.com/doc/239851159 ~ ` Healthy Foods Dramatically Improves Student Academic Success = http://scribd.com/doc/239851348 ~ ` City Chickens for your Organic School Garden = http://scribd.com/doc/239850440 ~ ` Huerto Ecológico, Tecnologías Sostenibles, Agricultura Organica http://scribd.com/doc/239850233 ` Simple Square Foot Gardening for Schools - Teacher Guide = http://scribd.com/doc/239851110

1. 1
Prepared for the State Master Gardener Conference March 2012
Extending Your Garden Growing Season
By
Clarence Whetten
What are Your Extended Season Gardening Goals?
Produce More Through Season Extension
Grow crops out of your climatic zone
Sweet Garden Grown Melons
Produce crops out of season
Summer Lettuce
Winter Salad Greens
Year Round Harvest
Garden Site Selection Criteria for an extended season garden
Full sun year round
Check Shadows in the winter when the sun is lower
Protection from the wind
Learn and use the microclimates in your yard
Convenient
Easy access
Know Your Weather
What is Your Growing Season?
Average Last Spring and First Fall Frost Dates
Average Frost Free Days
Web Search “Utah Freeze Dates”
Know Your Before and After Frost Date Weather
Find a Weather Station Near You at www.wunderground.com
Build a Weather Station
What Do You Want To Grow - Ask Yourself
What plants do I like to eat?
What quantity should I grow?
What benefit can season extension add to these crops?
Plan to try new varieties
Plant Selection Criteria
Time to maturity - Short season, Midseason, and Long season crops
Plant hardiness
Cold tolerant, Cold hardy, Heat loving
Cool Season Crops
Broccoli
Swiss Chard
Beets - Greens and Root
Turnips - Greens and Root
Some Asian Greens
Carrots
Lettuce
Mache
Spinach

2. 2
Season Extension Techniques
Raised Beds
Transplants
Mulches
Hot Caps and Cloches
Wall-O-Water
Floating Row Cover
Cold Frames and Hot Beds
Low Tunnels
High Tunnels
Raised Beds
Wet soil takes more energy to warm than dry soil
Raised beds are the easiest way to dry soil
It is easier and less expensive to lower the walkway than to raise the bed
Transplants
Save 3 – 6 weeks of “in soil time”
Increase the length of harvest
Increase the yield from garden
Allow you to select the most vigorous plants
Reduce thinning time and risks
Plastic Mulches - Plastic mulches warm the soil
Clear Plastic
Will warm soil temperature by 10 degrees
Weeds will grow under it
Black Plastic
Will warm soil temperature by 5 degrees
Prevents weed growth
Infrared Transmitting Plastic - Best of both but more expensive
Organic Mulches
Prevent Weeds
Improve Soil Tilth
Hot Caps & Cloches
Inexpensive
Easy to Install
Provide a few degrees of frost protection
Wall-O-Water
Water Provides the Frost Protection
Can provide protection down to 16 degrees for a short time
Size of top opening is regulated by the amount of water in the tubes
Install in your garden 2 weeks before planting to warm the soil
Plants will grow out the top if started too early
Floating Row Cover
Spun-bonded Synthetic Fabric
Comes in several weights
Provides various levels of frost protection
Can lie directly on the plants or used as a low tunnel cover

3. 3
Lightest Weight Floating Row Cover
Used for Insect Protection not Frost Protection
90% Light Transmission
.45 oz/sq yard
Agribon AG-15 is an example
Light Weight Floating Row Cover
Provides Frost Protection to 28 Degrees F. (4 degrees of protection)
85% Light Transmission
.55 oz/sq yard
Agribon AG-19 is an example
Medium Weight Floating Row Cover
Provides Frost Protection to 26 Degrees F. (6 degrees of protection)
70% Light Transmission
.9 oz/sq yard
Agribon AG-30 is an example
Heavy Weight Garden Fabric
Provides Frost Protection to 24 Degrees F (8 degrees of protection)
50% Light Transmission
1.5 oz/sq yard
Agribon AG-50 is an example
Not useful as long-term frost protection - not enough light to keep heating soil
Heavy Weight Fabric Used For Short Term Protection
Very Heavy Weight Garden Fabric
Provides Frost Protection to 22 Degrees F (10 Degrees of protection
30% Light Transmission
2 oz/sq yard
Agribon AG-70 is an example
Not useful as long-term frost protection - not enough light to keep heating soil
Heavy Weight Fabric Used For Short Term Protection
Cold Frames & Hot Beds
A box with a top that lets light in
Have been used for centuries
A hot bed is a cold frame with a heat source
Must be vented on sunny days
Can be a place to start plants and then remove the cover to continue the crop
Low Tunnel
A covered structure
Too short to walk into
Soil is the primary heat sink
The amount of frost protection depends on the soil temperature and the amount of sun
Provides protection from wind
Very useful for early spring and late fall production of cold hardy plants
May need to be vented depending on the cover
High Tunnel
Unheated greenhouse. Tall enough to walk and work in
Soil is the primary heat sink. Larger soil surface to air ratio than low tunnel
Longer distance from edge of tunnel to center of tunnel for frost penetration
Can grow cold hardy plants all winter in our climate
In the winter put low tunnels in your high tunnel

4. 4
Extending Your Growing Season in the Spring
Soil temperature counts as much as air temperature
Dry your soil out with raised beds
Cover your soil with plastic
Clear plastic will heat the soil up more than black
Black plastic with help to combat weeds
Protect your plants with floating row cover or Wall O Water
Don’t apply organic mulch until late spring
Prepare soil for spring garden in the fall
Year Round Salad
Start transplants in early February
Transplant into tunnel or row cover mid March
Subsequent transplants through out spring
Plant bolt resistant varieties for summer
Plant in the shade for summer
Start transplants for fall and winter garden in August
Plant seeds in high tunnel late September
Fall Garden
Plant cool season crops from mid July through August
Floating row cover and low tunnels will allow harvest through late November
Crops are the same ones that were planted in the early spring garden
Garden space is the same space used for the spring garden
Winter Garden
Planting times are mid August through September for above ground crops
Below ground crops use fall garden schedule
The crops need to be harvestable size by the end of November
From mid December to mid January little growth occurs but crops are available for harvest
Plan to water a high tunnel in the winter
Winter Garden Planning
For young leafy greens it takes 1 to 1.5 feet of a 30 inch wide bed to fill a 12 inch bowl or salad
spinner
From November through January it takes 30 days for greens to grow new leaves to harvest size
Leave the spinach leaf stem on the plant to speed regrowth
References
Four-Season Harvest by Eliot Coleman
The Winter Harvest Handbook by Eliot Coleman
USU High Tunnel Publications
http://extension.usu.edu/htm/publications/by=category/category=197
Kerr Center for Sustainable Agriculture Hoop House How-to:
http://www.kerrcenter.com/publications/hoophouse/index.htm
My garden website at: http://garden.uvci.com
Low Tunnel
EMT Tubing Benders - http://www.lostcreek.net/
10 foot wide floating row cover – Johnny’s Seeds and Peaceful Valley (GrowOrganic.com)
10 foot wide 4 mil greenhouse plastic – Johnny’s Seeds
High Tunnel
1” x 24’ Square Galvanized tubing – Metal Mart in Lehi
Aluminum Poly Latches and Wiggle Wire Stainless Steel Spring – https://www.Farmtek.com