Greenhouse and cold frames: here we come!

With the wet weather staying around for the next week or so, clearing out the cold frames should be easy. We'll be able to get lots of cold-tolerant seeds in the ground and will start to have a fall harvest of veggies in about a month!

Let's plan on getting to the plot twice next week, and each week thereafter: times TBD by participants. Please email us [TransitionHarrisburg (at) gmail (dot) com] or post to this blog post as to which days and times work best for you.

We can clear one cold frame and plant several types of cold-hardy plants. A few weeks later, we can have a second cold frame cleared and planted. This way we can have a continuous harvest, and can include as many of the cold frames as we wish. With this method, we can plant and harvest all year 'round, varying the plants with the seasons. Thinning the young, crowded plants will yield tender leaves for salads. As one type of planting (say, radishes) are cleared, we can start more of the same, or try something different!

A great source of information and inspiration is Four Season Harvest, by Eliot Coleman. Some of the plants he uses in his garden in Maine include lettuce, beets, cabbage, scallions, Swiss chard (spring, summer, fall); spinach, radishes, kohlrabi, mizuna, peas (cool months); mache, sorrel, arugula, escarole, endive, chircory, claytonia (winter months).

Just think about it: fresh organic greens all winter long!

Meeting on Thursday, August 12

We are meeting at the picnic pavilion in Reservoir Park at 7:00 pm, then going over to the greenhouse and cold frames nearby. We have access to the greenhouse and cold frames and will start gardening as soon as possible! Let's find out what cold-tolerant plants we can put in the cold frames. But to get you started in your search, here is a website that lists some we might use: cold tolerant veggies.

Once the cold weather settles in, we can cover the beds with heavy plastic, held up with bent bamboo poles and clothes pins. We should be able to garden year-round!