We're now living in an area that's cooler than what we're used to, so one of my primary concerns is how to grow heat-loving edibles - like tomatoes - abundantly. Perhaps this is a concern for you, too. Or maybe you just want to extend your growing season to earlier in the spring and later in the winter. If so, I think you'll appreciate a clever trick my mom-in-law uses: Plastic bag "greenhouses."

There are many ways to create inexpensive greenhouses for your plants. For example, when I winter sow, I use upcycled food containers. Once plants are in the ground, I sometimes use upcycled milk jugs or even canning jars to keep them snug, warm, and bug-free. But until I saw my mom-in-law's garden recently, I never considered using plastic bags to warm up my plants.

My mom-in-law gets her bags from friend who in turn gets them from a grocery store that uses them to bag aluminum cans for recycling. They cost just 50 cents each. But any sturdy clear bag would work just as well; for example, Amazon carries clear garbage bags for 24 cents each that look like they'd be perfect.

My mom-in-law's summer squash under a plastic bag "greenhouse."

To turn the bags into "greenhouse" material, just stick bamboo or other wooden stakes (or even tree branches) in the soil and place the bags over them. Viola! Instant warmth for your plant babies.

I should add that my mom-in-law's property can be rather windy, but the plastic bags stay put. She uses them only for potted plants, but I think they'd work equally as well for plants that are directly in the ground.

A tomato plant that's been under a bag and is huge for this time of year in this climate.