Early Season Gardening: How To Get Growing Now

Get a jump start on spring with these season extensions and hardening-off tips and tricks. Although the weather has been beautiful and sunny we are not safe from frosty nights yet. Here is my guide for Early Season Gardening: How To Get Growing Now!

This post contains affliate links, see full disclaimer here.  

1: Start seedlings indoors

I’ve written on this topic before here in Tips and Tricks for Starting Seeds Indoors and here in The Best DIY Seed Starting Mix, but I can’t say it enough: start your seeds indoors for bigger, healthier, stronger plants. If you live in a Nothern climate as I do, this is the number one rule to early season gardening success.

I have clay soil and slugs so anything I direct sow is already fighting an uphill battle, so for me starting my seeds indoors give such a sharp advantage over the powers of nature.  I am able to plant out strong, hardy plants that have been started indoors weeks – even months before I can even get digging in my garden because of wet or frosty soil.

2: Use a Cold Frame to harden off young plants

A cold frame is an age old and time tested gardening tool. Basically, it’s a big wooden box with a glass lid that acts like a mini greenhouse to help keep your seedling warm during cool spring or fall nights.

The advantages of cold frames are that you can begin hardening off your seedlings while the nights are still cool, you can keep seedlings protected from local wildlife such as rabbits, deer and quail, and they are much smaller and easier to move than a large greenhouse.

The ultimate disadvantage to keeping your seedlings in a cold frame is that if left unattended the interior temperature of the cold frame can easily skyrocket to temperatures way hotter than those little seedlings can handle, basically cooking them dead in minutes.

To prevent the cold frame microwave effect, I prop the lid of the cold frame open a bit during the day to let some of the hot air escape and close it up at night to keep the seedlings warm. If I am going away for the day, I cover the glass with a thin sheet or blanket to defuse the light.

Otherwise, cold frames are an awesome option for getting a jump on the growing season and can usually be made out of free, reclaimed or upcycled materials.

3:  Prep your beds with hot compost

Consider pre-warming the soil is with high quality, fresh, organic compost. Really nice, commercially made local compost can sometimes be delivered with a bit of heat still in it. This is a technique was first introduced to me by Jean-Marten Fortier but it has been practiced by gardeners and farmers for hundreds of years.

You will need to do a bit of detective work to find a trusted source for your compost, but once you do, have them deliver enough to add 2-3 inches over your entire garden. Hopefully, the compost will be steaming slightly but not still “cooking”, there shouldn’t be any large chunks of uncomposted material in the mix. Gently work the compost into the top few inches of your garden beds and allow it to sit for a few hours to a day before planting; if you wait much longer than that the heat will be lost.

Adding hot compost to your garden will help prevent transplant shock from cold soil and besides, you can never have too much good compost.

4: Plant under Low Tunnels

Low tunnels are great for keeping your seedlings toasty during cooler days and chilly nights. Low tunnels act as long, low greenhouses to keep seedlings warm and moist. This method works really well for tropical veggies such as tomatoes and peppers.

These low tunnels can be created by bending plastic water pipe such as plumbing pex into low half-hoops over your rows and covering them with the builder’s poly or heavy clear plastic. Secure the plastic to the ground with stones, scrap wood or anything you have around that is heavy enough to hold it down in case of wind.  Be sure to open the tunnel to allow air flow during the day as these low tunnels can get warm fast, which could easily result in wilted or burned seedlings.

Low tunnels are also great for prewarming your soil before planting. I put my low tunnels up a week or two before I plant, this way the soil is warm for my seedlings and I’ve had a chance to intercept any weed seedlings that might pop up as a result of the warm soil temperatures.

5: Use Frost Cloth for emergency protection

Frost cloth or Reme is thin white fabric specially designed for gardening, it allows air and light to enter the growing area while trapping heat in and creating an insulative barrier over your plants. Frost cloth is also great for protecting young seedling trays from sun-scald and pests.

Frost cloth is lightweight and easy to use and can be installed over a row of tender veggies in minutes. Frost cloth can add +2-3 degrees Celcius of insulation over crops which makes it a great option when your weather forecast calls for near freezing temperatures. But, if the temperatures are expected to drop below -2 degrees Celcius be sure to bring your seedlings inside for the night or cover tender crops with a low tunnel as well for added protection.

To install frost cloth, simply spread the fabric out over your veggies or plants before the sun goes down and secure it to the ground with stones, scrap wood or soil, remove the cloth in the morning, after all risk of frost has passed.

Ok, so to recap your 5 Ways to Get Gardening Now:

1: Start seeds indoors

2: Use a cold frame to harden off young plants

3: Prep your beds with hot compost

4: Plant under Low Tunnels

5: Use Frost cloth for emergency protection

So there you have it, my 5 Ways to trick the cold nights and get gardening now.

For more ways to get gardening now, check out my other Gardening Articles and if you liked this please spread the love: comment, share and tell your friends 😉

Ok, thanks for hanging out!

Jana