Extending the Growing Season
by Melody
May 2008

There are many reasons why many gardeners will opt to extend the garden season. Perhaps their growing season is short and they want to increase their harvest. Or perhaps they might want to create a year-round salad garden. No matter the reason, Square Foot Gardening by Mel Bartholomew has great tips on gardening any way you want it!

This winter I tried to grow my own seedlings. It didn't work as well as I wanted for many reasons. I lacked space under the grow light, I caught every cold that went around my community, and I had a lack of planning. Next year I plan to have better success by budgetting space and time for planting, making a blueprint of my garden labeled with what plants go where, reserving a bigger space for growing my starts, and hopefully staying healthier.

What I did plant did well, and it saved me some money since seeds are cheaper than buying the transplants from a nursery, and that is my reason for starting transplants early.

Square Foot Gardening book tells when to plant the seed to start your own transplants, gives diagrams for how to build a cold weather frame, and much more information for the novice and experienced gardener alike.

Here's to gardening!