Extend Your Garden Season: Row Covers and Mulches by Fred Stetson

Author:Fred Stetson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Storey Publishing, LLC
Published: 1996-03-25T16:00:00+00:00

Seeds and Seedlings

Almost every popular vegetable has been tried under cover, but I have yet to find a definitive study that recommends specific varieties for floating row covers and others for plastic tunnels. In most of the 30 or so university studies I’ve read, selected varieties are grown and examined under very specific conditions. I find that the soils, fertilizers, and climates used in these studies seldom match mine.

I’ll continue to do what I’ve always done — buy seeds from reliable companies that sell seeds appropriate to my part of the country, namely northern New England. If you’re in doubt about the best seeds for your region, contact your local Cooperative Extension Service or select a seed catalog that gives you complete information. Two of the most informative catalogs I’ve seen are Johnny’s Selected Seeds from Albion, Maine, and Shepherd’s Garden Seeds from Felton, California.

When to plant specific seeds, of course, depends on many things — such as your last frost-free date, the hardiness and maturity dates for varieties you select, and the temperature and condition of your soil. If you use row covers and tunnels, your timing changes, your season extends. As a general rule, northern or cold-climate gardeners can start seedlings at least two to four weeks earlier in the spring and grow vegetables three to five weeks later in the fall. Those parameters expand if you select hardy varieties.

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