EXTEND THAT GROWING SEASON

Gardening GROWING SEASON With temperate weather lasting well into October this year, did it seem a shame to put the vegetable garden to bed?Were you tempted to keep right on growing, even as the air got crisper and the leaves continued to fall? Can you imagine serving freshly picked tomatoes or peppers for Thanksgiving?If your answer to any of these questions was “yes!” floating row covers might just be your go-to gardening upgrade. Gardening GROWING SEASON More people than ever are warming to the idea of using “garden blankets” to extend their growing season. Maybe you’ve seen white fabric splashed throughout backyards, schoolyards, and community garden sites.Look closer — instead of leftover Halloween décor, you’re seeing floating row covers, which can add weeks and sometimes months to the growing season., Sabine Harvey, Master Gardener and Horticulture Program Assistant with the University of Maryland Extension in Kent County, has been using row covers to grow vegetables at her family garden year-round for the past 10 years. She also uses row covers at the Kent County Middle School garden, which began in 2010.According to the “School and Community Gardens in Kent County” Facebook page, a middle school teacher realized how many of…