Season Extension

By Yvette Henson, CSU Extension Director in San Miguel and Montrose Counties  People care about local, fresh, healthy food and want to grow at least some of their own for themselves, their families and friends.   For those with short and cool growing seasons (mountain areas), it’s especially important to find ways to maximize the growing season to provide home grown food for a longer period of time.   Combining season extension techniques and adapted plant varieties will allow mountain counties to become more food secure. When we refer to “Season Extension” we are usually talking about growing food under some type of cover to moderate temperatures, especially to provide a warmer environment so that the plants under the covers aren’t damaged by the last and first frosts of the season.   To be more specific, season extension covers perhaps allow us to get a harvest of warm-season crops that we typically cannot grow in the mountains and to plant any crop earlier and harvest later than if