Jessica, 

Thanks for the link to NGJ's hay bale season extender. I like that. It might work for a few items. My tomatoes are the biggest concern, but the hay could even work for them if I stand the hay on it's side - my plants didn't get real tall. 

I used the white cloth you mentioned last year, and while it certainly helped, it only protects for a light frost. What I really want to do is garden well into the fall with some heavy duty protection. And the hoop house is probably about my only option. 

Thanks for your help!

I made a cheap hoop house this year... it didn't fare so well.  I  wrote about it in my blog.  We found a simple pattern online that called for 1" pvc and any kind of plastic.  Then we got some late snows, which smashed it and then some insane winds, which killed it.  After that disaster, I found some instructions for a much stronger one that I'll try someday, at cahe.nmsu.edu/pubs/_circulars/CR-606

I'm needing to do more research on season extenders.  We had some hard frosts this last week and almost everything was killed.  That book is on my wish list at amazon.  :)

Tiko, 

Thanks for the info. I just talked to someone last week who said that Eliot Coleman's book The Winter Harvest Handbook was geared more for my application. So you may want to look into that book, too. 

Also, I'm reconsidering some low tunnels. Johnny's Select Seeds carries pipe benders and covers as well as clips. But if I don't do something fast, I'm going to have a frost here, too!

I am a fan of the low tunnels.  This year I tried a row of low tunnel as well as the hoop house, and the low tunnel was pretty impressive.  I'm sure it helped that the plants inside didn't get so smashed from the snow like those in the hoop house.  I kind of converted the pieces of the hoop house into a few low tunnels after it fell apart.  They are more manageable for one person to work on and pretty inexpensive.  I'm wondering about even doubling them up, a small one under a taller one.  Too late this year though.

I thought I posted a reply but it didn't post. Anyway, I think what I said was that I started a lasagna garden ( fhttp://ourgardengang.tripod.com/lasagna_gardening.htm) or the fall/winter harvest. So far everything is looking good. I have a lettuce, chard and spinach sprouts coming up. It took me about an hour to make a 5x5 lasagna bed.

I know that's not about extenders but I thought I would share anyway :o)

What do you ladies think about using greenhouses to extend the growing season.  My husband and I are wanting to start a garden next spring.  We are researching and finding out that gardeing is going to be quite an adventure.  My husbands grandpa mentioned getting a greenhouse for a couple reasons:  1)  Keeps the critters out  and 2)  you can extend the growing season.  Would this be a viable option, or is there something inherently unheathly about it?  We were wondering if we could grow some vegetables in the ground, and some raised?   What do you all think?  I am very new at this and would love all the advice I can get.  Right now we are leaning toward just experiementing with a regular garden in the ground first. 

Thanks for all the comments with extending the growing season.  These have been very helpful as well . . . I was just wondering about the greenhouse!

Thanks!

- Megan Jenelle @ A Blossoming Homestead

Megan, good question. In a traditional greenhouse, you usually don't plant directly in the soil, but I suppose you could if you don't have a cement floor inside. It would depend on your greenhouse. Also, most of the larger greenhouses are not very affordable for the average homeowner.

An alternative would be a hoop house constructed from pvc or electrical conduit and perhaps some wood, covered with a gardeners grade plastic material. It's MUCH more affordable. I have a video on my blog this week that shows one example and links to another. You might want to check it out or google "hoop house" and see what you find. 

If you want to get really fancy, check out this video where Eliot Coleman talks about his and how he moves it depending on the crop and season. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=omMZBXo53_M)

We use Remay row covers and also have a small Greenhouse to extend the season here.

I would Love to build a Hoophouse! Maybe next year. It seems we never have enough time around here.

But yes the Remay only gives you an extra 4 degrees or so, sometimes here it does make the difference between being hit by frost or not.

Over the last couple of days, I have had to use my Remay covers over my Peppers that are in the Greenhouse!

Good thing I bought a whole roll of Remay last year

Until this year, I haven't used any kind of season extenders. Nathan built me a cold frame earlier this year, so I was able to get my plants started earlier. Only thing I don't like about it, is it is too hard to get in and out off, as far as working with the plants. It's only a few feet tall, and maybe a couple of feet wide. I am thinking I will dismantle what we have and make something a bit different to cover our strawberries later in the year, and see if I can expand our production.

I am also looking into getting a grant from the Rural Resource agency to get a small hoop house built. But, with the way our weather has been lately, I'm a bit leery of something that isn't more stable.