MDthe washington post
.
thursday, november14
,
2019
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You will have gathered that
installing row cover tunnels is a
laborious affair, but they can make
the difference between a successful
fall garden or not, and will get
hardy greens such as kale, collards
and spinach through the winter.
This year, I’m growing a kale
named Winterbor, having grown
weary of Red Russian and Toscano,
and the collard variety Flash.
Weeds continue to grow in
these tunnels, but there is
nothing more satisfying on an
autumn afternoon than peeling
back the covers and rendering the
growing beds fluffy and weed
free.
One crop not getting the
blanket is the parsnip. Sown in
April, the parsnips have been
ready for some time, but I’ve been
waiting for some frosts before
digging them. This week’s freeze
will make them sweeter.
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late summer, so on it went. Lo, the
re-sown greens seemed to like it. I
squeezed in a line of radishes
between them, and all are now
robust and begging to be eaten.
I bought the row cover several
years ago from Johnny’s Selected
Seeds, whose catalogue carries
four grades of insulating cover,
varying in weight, price and frost
protection. The lightest adds two
to four degrees of frost protection,
the heaviest more than eight
degrees, said Jen Goff, product
technician for tools and supplies.
The thicker the cover, the more
light it blocks, which is an issue as
we approach the darkest weeks of
the year. “One common practice is
to uncover crops on nice days,”
she says. This will also help with
air circulation against fungal
diseases.
I have been using clothespins
to secure the fleece to the hoops,
but a more common approach is
to anchor the cloth along the
sides of the tunnels. You can use
pieces of wood, but they must be
secure against stiff winds. Goff
uses sandbags and knows of
growers who rely on heavy
fashioned something a little
fancier by buying lengths of half-
inch and quarter-inch PVC
plumbing pipe. I used a hacksaw
to cut the half-inch pipe into 18-
inch lengths, which were
hammered into the soil in
opposing pairs. The narrower
pipe was cut to 48 inches. The
ends of the section were pushed
into the larger pipes to form a
perfect arch between them.
The row covers fall into two
basic types — lightweight
versions that screen out insects
but provide no real insulation,
and thicker ones that do both.
The heavier type is meant for use
only in cool months, but that’s all
I had on hand against the pests in
growing under insulating covers.
This is not because of the cold but
the arrival of pests soon after
sowing. The flea beetles were so
eager to devour the mustard
greens that the first batch was a
write-off — the seedlings were
peppered with holes. In went new
seed, but this time under row
covers. A nearby and exposed line
of turnips was also attracting
another serious pest of brassicas,
the harlequin bug.
Row covers are made of spun
polypropylene and let in water
and reduced levels of light. They
are not cheap — a 50-foot length
costs between $30 and $50 — but
with care they can last several
years.
Once the protected plants start
growing, you have to elevate the
cloth. This is done by fashioning
hoops every four feet or so to
create a low growing tunnel. Mine
are about 18 inches high.
One way to provide the
supports is with galvanized wire
you cut into lengths, which might
vary from four to six feet,
depending on the width of your
row. In one long bed, I have
One of the
rewards of
gardening in a
relatively mild
climate is the
opportunity to
raise a long and
productive fall
garden. The salad
spinner, still since
June, now thinks
it’s a whirling dervish.
This is due to my sowing seeds
of cool season, leafy greens in
August and September.
It’s probably too late to sow
fresh seed now, though garlic
cloves can still go in, and you
could risk sowing fava beans and
spinach for a spring crop.
The greens that are up in
November take two basic forms —
those that are at or near maturity
and can be harvested at your
convenience, and the smaller
ones that will sit through the
winter and grow quickly in
February and March as the days
lengthen and the sun
strengthens.
Both need protecting now that
freezes are upon us. More on that
in a bit.
Raising the autumn crop is not
as foolproof as it might seem.
Lettuce seed scattered in August
is loath to sprout in hot soil,
though some varieties seem more
willing than others. It is worth
sticking with it, however, because
fall is a better season for heading
lettuces than spring, in my
experience.
Now, the romaines,
butterheads and bibbs mature as
the temperatures are cooling and
they are happy to await harvest
without bolting. I have learned to
have enough reserve seed ready to
fill the gaps of failed germination.
I might re-sow two more times in
September if the first seedlings
are no-shows before giving up. In
a row that has partially sprouted,
the re-sowing is a simple
procedure. Using a pocket knife, I
score surgically a new furrow
between sprouted plants. I am
careful to space the fresh seed to
minimize thinning.
I now have lettuce in various
stages of growth, from full-blown
heads of the butterhead Adriana
and a mini-romaine named
Dragoon, to one quarter-size
Marvel of Four Seasons, large
seedlings of an eye-catching lime
green with red speckles. Thinning
brings a harvest.
These lettuces will take a light
frost but nothing much colder, so
they must be covered now that
the nights are freezing. The
cabbage family crops are hardier
beasts (with the exception of bok
choy, which surrenders flaccidly
to a couple of degrees or so of
frost), but they, too, have been
Out of the garden and into the salad bowl: It’s time for fall greens
Adrian
Higgins
GARDENING
ADRIAN HIGGINS/THE WASHINGTON POSTIn late summer, the row cover protected kale and collard greens against pests. In November, the blanket insulates the plantings from frost.
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