Start Your Spring Early!?

Have you ever considered extending your season a bit? An earlier spring and later summer/fall? A cold frame (see above) is a wonderful way to start cool-season crops, acclimate vegetables and other tender plants prior to planting, extend vegetables in to fall and perhaps overwinter some tender plants thru the winter. See http://extension.missouri.edu/explore/agguides/hort/g06965.htm for information on cold frames. There are many books and internet resources that will give you information on this process. Consisting of four low walls and a glass/plastic/transparent top that can be opened are the basics. Aligning your cold frame east to west with a slanted face (1" drop for every foot of length) towards the south is preferable. Your cold frame should receive full sunlight from mid-morning thru mid-afternoon. The biggest concern with your cold frame is dealing with the wide fluctuation in temperatures. Look in to this topic for more information.

I'm working on plant lists today that will assist with labeling this spring. Dr. Gredler and Kay were peeling and preparing more plant sale labels and labeling seed packets for our growers. I'll have to run all of our seeds out to three growers next week. It will be nice to shift focus to other spring preparations (including many speaking engagements). A big warm up is expected thru the weekend. We'll see if this thaw allows us to get more of the lights show down (much of which was put out way back in October of 2008). I'm travelling and speaking thru the rest of the weeks so wont be able to post until Monday. Happy gardening preparations (mental mostly of course). Order some seeds! Sweet shot below from Dr. Owano from last years' orange/blue theme.