Good morning, it has been a few years back that I had a fellow gardener ask me if using fabric was cost effective. Without hesitation I said yes!!! Fabric allows me to easily garden year round here in Alpine. Most years I might not need to use it, but it makes gardening a lot easier and as we get more extreme weather events it is looking like I may not be able to garden without..
A few examples: I can start summer veggies much earlier. The first tomatoes are planted by the middle of February with the remainder of the summer veggies less okra and sweet potatoes by the first week in March. The fabric is a great excluding barrier that keeps out insect pest. Tomato pin worm and horn worms are no longer a problem that is as long as the fabric is in tact. The fabric is good for retaining moisture and with the use of mulch the wet dry cycles are nearly eliminated. Depending on the thickness of the fabric there is a 4 to 8 degree frost protection per layer. Fabric is great for hail protection. I have found 2 layers of my lighter fabric will repel decent sized hail if 2 layers are used. 2 layers also works best in wind too. Fabric helps keep greens nice and tender from the wind. Sun scald on larger fruits like eggplant tomatoes and peppers is eliminated. West Texas has too much sun and I have never seen any light deprivation even with the heavy fabric (AG 70, excludes 70% of the light). I have grown broccoli full term from September to April with no ill effects. The fabric makes starting mass plantings of seeds or seedlings real easy by laying the fabric directly on the planted bed. During early spring plantings I mulch after the seeds and plants are established. Mulching before has a tendency to cool the soil. The fabric is great for retaining warmth or cool. It does not generate warmth.
This past year the fabric paid for itself with 2 events. One at the beginning of the season and the other at the end. At the beginning of the season there was a huge hail storm that nearly defoliated our large mulberry trees. The hail was driven by 60 to 70 mile an hour wind. It ended up blowing nearly half of the fabric off the beds. There were multiple pounds of rocks to hold the fabric down. A case where most likely nothing was good enough due to the wind. That portion depending how quickly the fabric was blown off was pulverized into the ground, gone. that portion of the garden that remained covered was severely bruised and responded nicely to pruning and fertilizer. The second event happened was at the end of the season. This event was preceded a week earlier with a cool rain (45 degrees). This had the effect of cooling the soil. As mentioned above, fabric maintains temperatures and does not generate heat. The event was a very strong early cold front that provided a killing freeze of 17 degrees. It is to be noted that MOST veggies are killed if uncovered at 20 degrees. It needs to be noted that this was the first freeze and nothing was hardened off. All uncovered veggies were killed out right. Most of the seedling that I had planted and were not yet fully established bit it also. All established veggies survived but had freezer burn. Her again the fabric performed spectacularly and prevented the total demise of the garden. It is not to say that it limped along through the worst of the winter.
Without fabric year round gardening may be difficult. But is worth every cent. this is where I purchase it. I usually purchase in 100 ft roll for 70 and 500 ft roll for 19. http://www.
Sadly this last low twenties morning eliminated all of the pea blossoms. Once we get into March the harvest should begin. It looks like going forward is a warming trend. The second planting is looking nice. This week the onions were transplanted. Germinated beans were planted. Soon summer squash,winter squash, and cucumbers. Tomatoes are hardening off and will soon be joining the party. And of course they will all go under fabric!!
Sadly the kohlrabi is done, I do see some Brussels sprouts developing. Spinach.Asian greens, boc choy, lettuce, green onions, turnips, carrots, radishes, chard and kale are maturing nicely. The harvest continues to improve and I am optimistic that I can fill all orders.
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