Get practical food-gardening ideas in your inbox with
Food Garden Life News. It’s free, and you’ll hear about new articles, classes, and events too.
- -
What if you could harvest more food from your vegetable garden without making it any bigger?
Extending the growing season is one way to get more from the garden space you already have. And you don't need an elaborate greenhouse to get started.
In this episode, Steven Biggs chats with Sonja Peters of Greenbush Greenhouses and Farm in British Columbia's North Okanagan about practical ways to keep a garden productive longer.
Sonja shares tips on everything from simple floating row covers to low tunnels, cold frames, and greenhouses. They also discuss choosing the right protection for your climate, combining layers of protection, and using microclimates to your advantage.
In this episode:
- Why extending the growing season can mean more food from the same space
- Floating row covers: how they work and when to use them
- Making inexpensive low tunnels
- The differences between low tunnels, hoop houses, and greenhouses
- Layering protection to keep crops going in colder weather
- Cold frames and ways to build them
- How microclimates affect season extension
- Monitoring temperatures and preventing overheating
- The added pest-management benefits of row covers
About Sonja Peters
Sonja is a horticulturist, greenhouse grower, and consultant with more than 20 years of experience in the industry. She and her partner, Dave, operate
Greenbush Greenhouses and Farm near Lumby, British Columbia.
What is Food Garden Life Show: Helping You Harvest More from Your Edible Garden, Vegetable Garden, and Edible Landscaping?
Want to grow your own food but need creative ideas so you can get the most from your space and your growing zone? Our passion is the edible garden.
We help people grow food on balconies, in backyards, and beyond—whether it’s edible landscaping, a vegetable garden, container gardens, or a home orchard.
There are many ways to approach edible landscaping. Find out how to harvest enough fruit, vegetables, herbs, and edible flowers. Get top tips for exotic crops. And learn how to garden in a way that suits any situation.
Host Steven Biggs was recognized by Garden Making magazine as one of the “green gang” making a difference in Canadian horticulture. His home-garden experiments span driveway straw-bale gardens, a rooftop kitchen garden, fruit plantings, and an edible-themed front yard. He's a horticulturist, award-winning broadcaster and author, and former horticulture instructor with George Brown and Durham Colleges in Ontario, Canada.
Get started with one of our fan favourites. Season 6, Episode 10: Big Harvests from a Small Space with a Vertical Vegetable Garden.