Radical Season Extension

This is a basic-level, hands-on workshop by Gill farmer Danny Botkin, on growing food “around-the-calendar” in mercurial New England weather.

Success in “off-season” gardening, like many things, is possibly half “mental”. Hence, if we wish to expand our “food harvesting window” we might first expand our beliefs and understanding of what’s possible in winter, without resorting to expensive, unsustainable fossil fuels. Utilizing, instead, cold-hardy food crops, herbs and flowers, plus cheap, common, and free resources available to any backyarder, LDF teaches a simple, pragmatic approach to the winter growing equation.

We’ll describe and demonstration various low-cost “crop covering” apparatus, useful in propagating cold weather greens, alliums, roots and salad, as well as techniques for “scheduling”, “hardening” and “insulating” outdoor plants, as well. We’ll also demonstrate how to bend 10′ steel conduit (EMT) pipes into cheap, sturdy, permanent “hoops” to assemble versatile, crop-protecting, low-tunnels… (Participants may return to LDF, later, to bend their own pipes into hoops using our jig).

We will also tour and observe the active, winter greenhouse (high and low) tunnels at Laughing Dog. The workshop concludes with farm snacks and Q and A around the kitchen cookstove.

Suggested donation: $25-35. No one turned away for lack of funds.
RSVP appreciated!