Grow More Food Without a Bigger Garden: Season Extension Made Simple

Grow Figs Where You Think You Can’t — Revised & Expanded

My fig book is now more than three times the size of the original, with practical advice on growing in pots, pruning, overwintering, and getting figs ripe—plus ideas from cold-climate fig growers around the world.

Find out more and get your copy.--

What if you could harvest more food from your vegetable garden without making it any bigger?

Extending the growing season is one way to get more from the garden space you already have. And you don't need an elaborate greenhouse to get started.

In this episode, Steven Biggs chats with Sonja Peters of Greenbush Greenhouses and Farm in British Columbia's North Okanagan about practical ways to keep a garden productive longer.

Sonja shares tips on everything from simple floating row covers to low tunnels, cold frames, and greenhouses. They also discuss choosing the right protection for your climate, combining layers of protection, and using microclimates to your advantage.

In this episode:

• Why extending the growing season can mean more food from the same space
• Floating row covers: how they work and when to use them
• Making inexpensive low tunnels
• The differences between low tunnels, hoop houses, and greenhouses
• Layering protection to keep crops going in colder weather
• Cold frames and ways to build them
• How microclimates affect season extension
• Monitoring temperatures and preventing overheating
• The added pest-management benefits of row covers

About Sonja Peters

Sonja is a horticulturist, greenhouse grower, and consultant with more than 20 years of experience in the industry. She and her partner, Dave, operate Greenbush Greenhouses and Farm near Lumby, British Columbia.