Harvest More With Garden Bed Covers
In my new book, Grow Olives Where You Think You Can't, I tell you everything you need to know to successfully grow an olive tree in a pot!
***
We chat with vegetable gardening expert Niki Jabbour about using garden bed covers. She is the author of the new book, Growing Under Cover: Techniques for a More Productive, Weather-Resistant, Pest-Free Vegetable Garden.
Jabbour is a Halifax-based, award-winning author, host of The Weekend Gardener radio show, and one of the experts behind the gardening website Savvygardening.com.
She discusses the benefits of using garden bed covers, choosing covers suited to your situation, how to boost insulation of cold frames, tips for people thinking of a greenhouse, and greenhouse covering materials.
Why use Garden Bed Covers
Jabbour says that there are many reasons to use garden bed covers. “It’s about gardening smarter, not harder,” she says.
Reasons to use garden bed covers include:
- Larger harvests
- Better ability to control the growing environment
- Year-round harvests
- Including more “hyper-local” food on the menu
- Reduced pest pressure
- Creating conditions suited to exotic crops
Types of Garden Bed Covers
Jabbour points out that not everyone has the space or money for a glass greenhouse. But there are many other options to provide cover for crops. These include:
- Row covers
- Cloches
- Cold frames
- Plastic-covered greenhouses
- Mini hoop tunnels
Complete show notes at foodgardenlife.com/show/garden-bed-covers
