Despite some Irene damage and a number of power outages CT NOFA held our workshop, originally postponed due to bad weather, about Fall and Winter Harvests at Common Ground High School in New Haven, CT. Shannon Raider, Farm Manager at Common Ground, showed workshop attendees what to plant late in the season and how to care for crops which seem to be growing late in the season so that you can keep eating garden-fresh food in the coming months!
Workshop leader, Shannon Raider, started off in a classroom at Common Ground High School giving workshop attendees the resources to find more information online for planting and purchasing seeds.
Then everyone went outside to discuss fall and winter crops. Here Shannon shows participants how to make row cover supports by bending pipes into arcs.
The workshop looks at row-covered turnips. The cloth covering the rows is called reemay, and protects crops from frost while retaining more heat during the day.
Hardy greens can be planted in the late summer and early fall and grow under row covers until late in the growing season. Beets, carrots, radishes, escarole, radicchio and turnips Hukera are some other plants which can be planted in the fall and grown into the winter.
You probably don't have one of these in your yard . . . but high tunnels are a great way to extend the growing season for farms. Functioning in the same way a greenhouse does, they retain heat and keep plants warm and growing well into the winter.
For some more information on fall planting, look out for some of CT NOFA's orther workshops and check out this site: http://www.greencycle.net/2011/08/planting-the-fall-vegetable-garden/
look for a seed calendar and other tools on this site: http://www.johnnyseeds.com/t-growguide.aspx
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