| Season extension allows farmers a longer growing or harvesting season than they could otherwise expect. In Minnesota and other northern states, season extension can be a crucial part of a marketing plan: you can have a 20-week season, for instance, rather than a 14-week season for a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) farm.
Season extension methods include black plastic ground cover, high tunnels, row covers, greenhouses, succession planting, and mulching, to name a few.
Online Resources:
Season Extension for Minnesota Farmers [HTML] [PDF, 5.08 Mb] -- this publication is the work of former U of MN student Jennifer Adams.
Organic University: Greenhouses for Year-Round Food and Farming
Part I -- Part II -- Part III -- Part IV
The Gandhi of Greenhouses: Part I -- Part II
Minnesota contact people for season extension:
Terry Nennich, Regional Extension Educator--Horticulture, University of Minnesota Extension Service. E-mail: nenni001@umn.edu. Telephone: 218-281-8690
Jerry Wright, Extension Engineer and Irrigation Specialist, West Central Research and Outreach Center, University of Minnesota. E-mail: jwright@umn.edu. Telephone: 320-589-1711
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