Beginner Gardening: Raised garden ...do you amend beds to start new season, 1 by Gymgirl

Gymgirl wrote:
Sounds like you both are awaiting warmer weather for your warm weather crops. Do either of you have a hoop over your beds? From my understanding, a hoop can be a very useful tool in extending your growing season(s) on both ends.

In this case, I believe you could warm up your soil in advance by laying plastic garbage bags on top so the sun would heat up the ground underneath. Then, you put your hoop in place (or install if over the covered ground). By the time the soil heats up, and the ground is ready, you plant out your young 'uns with some confidence they won't croak in the cold ground.

The beauty of the hoop is that you can cover it with a number of coverings designed to accommodate changes in the season(s). In advance of your spring?summer? plantout, you'd cover it with 4-6 mil clear plastic sheeting. The hoop will capture the heat from the sunshine during the day, and transfer it to the soil during the night. This gives you an earlier start on your plantout season. After your seedlings are established, you can replace the plastice with a floating row cover, or other lightweight cover designed to let in light and air for circulation, and keep out the buglies you don't want attacking your babies.

It works the same way on the other end of your season, by extending your summer heat (under the hoop) a ways into your fall season. Also, you get to protect early fall crops from too much cold, too soon.

A hoop can be installed over your raised bed in roughly 10-15 minutes. They can be tall as you like, or close to the ground as you like. If you're interested in the instructions (which a 10-year-old could do...), let me know and I'll post them here for ya'll.

Here's a picture of how one gardener used a hoop this past January to set out her tomato plants in mid-February, well in advance of her last freeze date. Granted, she had to use the plastic plus blankets on occasion, because I think her temps dipped to a low of around 36 degrees during this period.

But, today, Drthor's crop is one of the earliest, healthiest, and most productive tomato crops growing, and some of us are exhibiting tomato envy and kicking ourselves for not being prepared or brave enough to do what she did! You should see her crop. I've posted the link to her thread, and you can go see her hoops in action, in the various stages of use.

http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1159852/

Godspeed, and Good Harvest! ^^

Linda