Winter either bites with its teeth or lashes with its tail. ~Proverb
Twas a cold one last night!
Parts of the garden that weren't covered sustained some frost damage. Much will recover but it's certainly a set back.
We have over a dozen orders to fill today, but it's too cold and wet - after Justin's early morning watering before the sun came up.
Ah, the ups and downs of a farm life. Always keeping you on your toes and full of challenges.
Certainly affects our weekly income flow in terms of fresh produce.
11 Comments: "FIRST FREEZE" »
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We got down to 26 in ramona last night (Southern California). I am so glad I covered my newly planted tangerine, lime, lemon, blood oranges, minneola and valencia orange trees with burlap. This morning, the burlap was encrusted with frost but the trees were fine.
Oddly, my bell and hot peppers survived to grow another day, I left them unprotected because I ran out of burlap and extra sheets to cover them with.
@Dan Langhoff: We just got a bunch of burlap coffee bags and are using them to cover the potted plants!
What type of material is it covering your beds? I live in OK so it's way too cold to plant anything, but I thought I might be able to extend my growing season a bit by creating something similar over my raised beds. Do you use plastic of some kind? Is it a specialty product? Like everyone else, I'm trying to do this as inexpensively as possible.
And I know this isn't the subject of this post, but can you give some compost suggestions? I've tried to do compost piles at our last 2 houses and just end up with a pile of stuff, never any rich compost like I see online. What am I doing wrong? Am I simply being impatient with the process? I thought I might start one at this house now, but we're in freezing night temps from now until mid-April and I don't know if it'd be a waste of time to start now. Thanks for the input!!! I LOVE reading your blog and perusing your website...it gives this newbie gardener something to aim for! Blessings!
0.5 degrees last night when we went to bed, with a wind chill of -10. Nothing is growing in Denver right now.
@Cynthia in Denver,
collards are still growing here at the stead north of Denver. I moved them into the garage during the night and snow ans brought them back out today in the sun..
@Cynthia in Denver: brrrrrrr
Love the hoop covers. Totally makes sense given your bed setup.
@Kevin: Sure helps protect all our winter greens and bassicas
Aw. You've got peas! They'll pop right back when the weather turns. Around here, we've got to wait at least 1-2 more months before even beginning to plant them.
@Vegetable Garden Cook: Yes, we've been harvested a few handfuls a week now!
I can't even imagine living in a climate like yours.
First freeze on New Year's Eve? Our was the end of September, and the last spring frost should be mid-May. It's -11C right now (12F), a fairly normal winter morning, and the only thing anyone is harvesting around here is snowballs.
I enjoy reading your blog, and seeing how you pursue self-sufficiency, but it really does seem like a different world than mine.