Shade Cloth & Plant Protectors

An August afternoon in the Ozarks will cook tender greens and stress transplants that were doing fine a week earlier. Shade cloth drops the temperature underneath it by a measurable amount and buys plants time through the worst of summer without shutting down production entirely. Plant protectors handle the other end — frost cloth keeps a late cold snap from finishing off seedlings that went in a little early. Shade cloth and plant protectors are both cheaper than replanting, which is the argument that usually closes the deal.