Row covers in a community garden

Beds in the Pearson Community Garden

There's an interesting community garden in our neighborhood in the mountains.  It's the Pearson Community Garden, supported by the Bountiful Cities Project, a local non-profit organization.

I've posted photos from this garden before; it's been fascinating to see what they're doing and how the garden changes.  I volunteered several times last summer on their regular Wednesday workday, and enjoyed talking with the much younger fellow volunteers, who were keen about learning how to grow vegetables.

But this year, I'm totally impressed (and encouraged) by the success that they've had with simple row covers in protecting winter greens. 

This was a hard winter for us in the Carolinas (in the Southeastern U.S.)  We had unusually COLD temperatures (for example, in Asheville, NC, lows were in the teens (F°) for weeks on end, and there was MUCH more snow than usual.)

Check out these greens! 

These were protected by simple hoops covered with plastic over the winter.  They're growing directly in soil.  Wow.

Pearson Garden rows and hoop house

Lettuces