The first hard freeze has come and gone but the growing season doesn't have to be over

Garden Journal columnist Ron Kujawski began gardening at an early age on his family's onion farm in upstate New York. Although now retired, he spent most of his career teaching at the UMass Extension Service.

Leaf greens thrive in a hoop house in mid-December.

There was frost on the pumpkin and everything else in our gardens last Sunday. My digital thermometer actually read 27.8 F. That falls into the category of a hard freeze. It may have been a degree or two colder in our vegetable garden which is at the bottom of a slope … and cold air tends to settle in low-lying spots.

The frost did bring an end to the season for pumpkins and every other tender crop in the vegetable garden as well as tender annuals in the flower borders. Still, frost-tolerant plants, including many vegetables such as root crops and those related to cabbage, have withstood the freeze. However, I should have provided some protection by placing row covers over them. I’ll certainly do that prior to the next frost which could happen before this column appears in print. That little bit of protection will extend the harvest season, if not the actual growth, of the hardy crops for a few more weeks.

Of course, this all reads as if the growing season for the vegetable garden is drawing to a close. For some of us, it is not. The "us" are those who have constructed what is referred to as a hoop house or grow tunnel to not only extend the growing season but to also begin a new one at this time of year. Unlike a classic greenhouse which is built on a sturdy foundation and has a heating unit, these structures are simple in design and construction. Typically they are nothing more than a layer of clear poly over arches of metallic tubing which are anchored to the ground. A talented jack-or-jill-of-all-trades can construct a hoop house from readily available materials. On the other hand, someone as untalented as me can purchase kits for building such a structure. Fortunately, I had the help of two hoop house pros, Neal Chamberlain and Ricky Bernstein. Both have years of experience growing crops through winter in their hoop houses. My neighbor, Gary Quadrozzi, also pitched in to help with construction when my brain froze up, an all-too-frequent occurrence.

A simple hoop house or grow tunnel is ideal for extending the growing and harvest season for some vegetables.

Since a grow tunnel is unheated, only certain crops can be grown through winter. Last winter, I had great success in growing radishes, carrots, as well as lettuce, spinach, kale and other hardy leafy greens. It is best to get these started in the fall so that they reach maturity or nearly so as there may not be much additional growth during the coldest days of winter. Also, placing a double layer of row cover over the plants offers extra protection.

As I travel about, I see more and more of these simple structures in backyards. For those who are trying to become at least a bit more self-reliant, a hoop house or grow tunnel is worth looking into.

Here are other tasks worth looking into:

As the fall foliage fades and falls to the ground, some people see the cleanup as an extra chore. Gardeners, however, should recognize the falling leaves for its potential as mulch and compost material.