Editing Season extension (section)

==Other methods==
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* [[Hotbed]]s: a mass of hot [[compost]] is used for the heat it gives off to warm a nearby plant. Typically a few centimetres of soil are placed on top of the compost mass, and the plant grows there, above the rising heat.

* [[Mulch]]es: many a material placed on the soil around plants will help retain heat. Organic mulches include straw, compost, etc. Synthetic mulches, typically, [[Plastic mulch|plastic sheeting]] with slits through which plants grow, is used extensively in large-scale vegetable growing. When the plastic is black, its color may absorb more solar heat, but if the plastic is clear, it may provide a greenhouse effect; both concepts are touted in discussions of mulching, usually without citations of any field trials that might clarify which to choose. Organic mulches, in addition to retaining heat by insulating, can potentially also add some heat from their decomposition, although they must be properly chosen, as factors such as thermal or chemical "burning" (excess heat, acidity, or both) and [[coliform bacteria]] accompany animal manure used as row-crop mulch. One principle involved is to prefer aged compost over fresh compost for this purpose, as its earlier predigestion by soil microbes ends the early phase of intense heat, low pH, and gut bacteria dominance but still leaves a bit more exothermic potential available. 

* [[Raised bed]]s: beds where the soil has been loosened and piled a few inches to more than a foot above the surrounding area heat more quickly in spring, allowing earlier planting.