Bundle up for the holidays and cover up your garden rows too!

Would you like to enjoy your garden for an extra couple of months? 

Or boost your winter garden's growth?

Row covers are a great way to extend your growing season!

Floating Row Cover Workshop at the State Street Community Garden

Row Covers have many benefits: they protect plants from the frost and wind, block pests and diseases, and regulate soil temperature and moisture.

And row covers are easy to construct!

Floating row cover material is also known as all-purpose garden material or reemay. This magical material is made of polypropylene and allows air, water, and 85% of sunlight to pass through to plants.

Row covers can be constructed out of hoops or you can lay the reemay right on top of the plants. Metal hoops for row covers can be purchased at garden supply stores or you can scavenge around your house for recycled materials to use.

During the Gardens Project's Row Cover Workshop this fall, Master Gardener Gloria Jarrell shared her creative methods of building row covers out of recycled materials. Check out the examples below:

Example of metal hoops that support row covers

More metal hoops

Recyled fencing

Recyled irrigation hose

How to attach irrigation tubing:
use wooden stakes, attach nail, place hose right over nail.

Milk jugs or other plastic containers filled with water are a good way to hold down the edges of the reemay, you can also use rocks or bury the edges in the soil.

Once you have your row covers installed, don't forget to monitor your plants growth underneath and remember to check for pests.

A good place to purchase reemay and other row cover supplies in the Ukiah area is DripWorks Irrigation in Willits. It is more economical to buy a large roll of reemay, so organize and share with your garden neighbors. Reemay can be stored and used year after year.

Check it out! Gardeners have been covering their crops for a long time.

In nineteenth century France gardeners used 'cloches' or bell jars to cover individual seedlings to protect from frost. Each jar had to be propped up during the day to provide ventilation. Today, we are lucky to have technology like reemay material.

A great article with more information and resources about row covers: http://www.organicgardening.com/learn-and-grow/row-covers?page=0,0


Interested in attending future Gardens Project workshops? Check out our events page.
Have questions? Feel free to contact us!