Miller’s Purely Maple

As You Sow, So Shall You Reap

For Some Folks, It’s Always Garden Season

By Dave Milano

Sunny warmth—that primal, indispensable life-giver to the soil and all that live in it and on it—is nothing but the gardener’s best friend, and in New York’s southern and Pennsylvania’s northern tiers, it can be in alarmingly short supply. Vegetable gardeners here cannot help but feel the pinch. They are positively under pressure to squeeze every last ounce of sun from their stingy, rather cursory warm season. They must be clever. They must devise workarounds, plan diligently, remain attentive to weather forecasts, maybe even gamble now and then. I speak from experience. Having gardened for twenty-five years on a rocky, windswept, Endless Mountain hilltop, I’ve learned that, without doubt, long winters are our principal challenge.This is not entirely a north/south affair. From our somewhat marginal gardening climate, I drive ninety miles northward to the snug confines of the Finger Lakes (those lovely and vast tempering masses of water) and there note that the growing season—that priceless interval between deadly plant-killing, blossom-shriveling frosts—is 170 days, a full month longer than my own meager 135. Nature’s odd justice!

So what does one do with a 135-day growing season? First, recognize that 135 is but an average, and a low one at that. It’s not uncommon for frost to hit the Twin Tiers as late as June 4, or as early as September 16, potentially shortening the official “safe” growing season to an astonishing 111 days. No choice for anyone here wanting to grow those wonderful heirloom tomatoes (approximately 136 days from seed to maturity) except to retreat and regroup, generally to cold frames, greenhouses, and indoor grow lights, and even then the savvy gardener will be ready for at least one or two evening scrambles to hastily cover plants with tarps, bed sheets, and sheer hope against unexpected frost.

There’s no time to waste, so let’s rub our hands briskly together and get to work. First on the agenda is buying seeds. If you haven’t done that by now, you’re late. Very late. And if 2021 shapes up like 2020, even early ordering may not have helped you much. While gardeners aren’t the type to engage in Air Jordan aisle fights, whatever their efforts to obtain seeds, some disappointment is inevitable. Last year, as lockdowns interrupted supply chains and the desire for self-sufficiency increased, experienced gardeners doubled down and many new gardeners entered the market. Seeds were suddenly in short supply. This year demand is also beyond supply. Seed companies have been warning patrons for months of shortages and delivery delays, not just of seeds, but also of supplies, like grow lights.

If you’ve missed the seed wagon, don’t despair, just buy started plants as you find them, and don’t be picky about varieties. Get the plants into the ground as early as your courage allows. Be profligate with compost. Optimize outcomes by making special provisions to keep out the deer and