under cover

By far the most satisfying time to garden is in the late fall and the early spring, when having anything fresh coming out of the garden feels like you are pulling one over on the world, at least where I live in New England. This is made possible with the season extension of a plastic cover and some kind of hooping. We have two at the moment, a 10x12 ft hoophouse with saplings used for the frame (and it has lasted a long time, these saplings are going on 11 years now), and a low tunnel that is 4x12 ft and with hoops from metal electrical conduit bent into imperfect arches. The plastic is a greenhouse film specifically designed for light penetration and tear resistance, and lasts five years before it should be replaced. In both places, we can have carrots that go to Christmas without being frozen in, and spinach and lettuce that give a bounty in the late fall, go into stasis and then fire up in April, providing greens for many weeks before anything else in the garden is ready. Everything about our garden revolves around creating these crops. I make sure to plant them with sufficient time to size up, the carrots by the beginning of August and the greens by the beginning of September.

I'm actually far less interested in the rest of the garden than I am in these spaces. Because there is nothing like harvesting a bowl of spinach in the middle of winter. And while I bought the plastic (Johnny's Selected Seeds, $200 delivered for a ten year supply), everything else was scrounged for free. So don't go spend a lot of money. But do devise some season extension for yourself. Because you won't ever want to be without again.