hey everyone welcome to this episode of digging deeper today we're talking
about a pretty important topic one that makes a big difference
on the overall bottom line of the Farms we're talking about season extensions
so last night we had here our first big frost we're mid mid-november and obviously here we're
in a Norton climate so season extension you know seems pretty drastic but what we're going to be
talking about today applies pretty much everywhere wherever you are actually before we get there it's
always important I think to remind Growers why season extension plays such a big role in your
bottom line and the first reason is that obviously you're producing more on the same amount of land
and or with the same equipment that you already own so simple strategy for growing longer periods
of times just helps you monetize better the equipment that you have the second one is that
if you're early enough at Farmers Market let's say you'll be able to generate something that is pure
gold which is customer loyalty Customer Loyalty how do you get how do you do that there's there's
different reasons why you you can achieve that but one of the best one is to be really really early
at Market with most of the vegetables that people want and finally one good reason why you want to
be into season extension is just to alleviate Financial stress where you wanna extend your
growing Seasons so that you don't need to have all your financial goals met in the peak of the season
you can spread it out so that there's less pressure to produce like big volumes during the
heat of the summer and you know remember In the Heat of the summer you know production is easier
but it's also easier for larger mechanized Farms so you're competing with bigger Farms so season
extension you know at the start and at the end really allows you to spread out diversify more and
ultimately get a better bottom line for you know the Investments that you already have on your farm
so the first strategy is a simple one is to raise your bed at fall so that comes Springtime you have
beds that are higher and that will drain better and that will warm up faster this is a strategy
that is a game changer if you have never done this you'll see a huge difference come springtime then
you'll want to perhaps cover your bed uh in the in the in the winter with plastic either black tarps
or clear plastic and by doing it so you're making sure that the beds will stay on the dryer side and
then eventually in the spring when everything's wet you'll be able to get into your Fields remove
the tarps if there's snow because of the tarps the snow will melt faster if it's clear plastic the
beds will warm up and then you'll be able to plant into hot dry beds even in early early spring so
that's trick number one and it's an important one and Growers and seasoned Growers throughout the
world do this to make sure that they can maximize the potential of their land come spring times
another biggie is row covers and most Growers will know how you know positive row covers can
be you'll put them in the spring you'll put them in the fall they'll protect against frauds they'll
they'll create these micro climates they're fairly common and they're frankly they're really amazing
row covers but if we push this a little bit further some Growers perhaps don't know how
many tunnels can also play a big role so these mini tunnels like this one what's really amazing
about them is that they're designed to put plastic over and so it really has that greenhouse effect
this tunnel is here has plastic holes so that can breathe you don't need to open it day and night
this is a pretty clever design and these tunnels will add a few degrees it's really amazing what
they do and they're low and they're single so you can bring them inside greenhouses or hoop houses
and in the summer because of their height you can also use them to grow crops like Swiss chard kale
with insect Nets over them or growing summer squash or crops that are bigger and taller so
the height plays a big role they're pretty nice this is a really neat system that I like a lot
but many tunnels using plastic is is really interesting plastic that is lower that won't blow
out but that will really create that micro climate effect especially if it has those perforated uh
holes in it okay so this strategy is my favorite and we're using caterpillar tunnels to protect up
to four beds and the beauty of this strategy first of all is that it's it has a big volume of air so
it's a lot warmer inside these kind of tunnels and then you can move them around so you don't
need to be really anal about where the tunnel what crop is going to be going into the tall
you can just simply move it where it needs to go at the end of the season or in the early spring
the fact that the tunnel is really high gives you more air so it just buffers more the cold
air coming in and then you also have room to put either inside these caterpillar tunnels uh row
covers or even a micro or mini tunnels so it's really amazing the combination of all of this
and these are really affordable for the price and so it's a worthwhile strategies this one is from
Tessier a company that I really like to work with the way they've built their tunnel it's really
sturdy and one trick about caterpillar tunnels even if they're low Tech you want to make sure
that they're always airtight so make sure that there's no cold air coming in that makes a big
big difference so anchoring them nicely making sure that there's no infiltration of air that's
really important especially when the knife are below frost so all in all these are all simple
strategies can that can really help you increase your bottom line you know going from I don't know
30 weeks at Farmers Market to 36 to 38 to 42 that makes a big difference in the bottom line
and these are low-cost solutions that can really be effective especially if you combine them with
some of the crops that are really cold hardy so that they can really really go deep into the
season even if it's cold we're still growing we're still bringing stuff at Market I can I'm making a
delivery with the chefs today Montreal and they can't believe that I'm bringing fresh uh fresh
carrots with Leaf stop and then I bring radicchos that I'm bringing all my veggies with their tops
at this time of the year they can't believe it and so there's a window of opportunity for anyone out
there that wants to do that and I'm encouraging you to do it so Jay I'm out for this week if you
like these videos don't forget to subscribe it gives us the signal that you guys are into this
and that I should keep sharing some of the tidbits that I have in my toolbox I hope you guys are well
I hope everything is growing I hope you're not freezing I am so I'm gonna head out in JM out