Protecting Your Garden From Frosts

 The weather forecast predicts a early fall freeze and your garden is still going strong.  What can you do?  What should you do?

Understanding frosts and freezes is the first step.

What is a frost?

According the Farmer's Almanac, “Frost” refers to the layer of ice crystals that form when water vapor on plant matter condenses and freezes without first becoming dew.

• Light Freeze:  29-32 degrees, tender plants killed

• Moderate Freeze:  24-28,  widely destructive to most plants

• Hard Freeze:  24 and colder with heavy damage

• Many plants can survive a brief frost, but very few can survive a hard freeze. 

Late planting of spinach will be covered and so delicious after a frost.

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Covering Your Crops

The easiest way to protect plants from frosts is to cover them with a blanket or row cover. This material traps the heat to keep plants warmer.  Is it worth your time? Yes, sometimes an early freeze is a freak incident and there are many days of great weather and gardening to follow.

• Row covers are made of non-woven polyester. Garden stores will sell “row covers” of different weights or thickness. I like to purchase a roll and cut to the size I need.
• Bed sheets, fabric drop cloths, or medium-weight fabric will also make suitable covers for vulnerable plants. Do not use plastic. 
• Drape loosely to allow for air circulation. Do not let the material rest on the plants. Use cages or stakes to keep off the plants.
• Secure to ground with rocks or bricks or stakes to keep the covering from blowing off.
• Keep sheets or row covers at the ready, stored somewhere dry, neatly rolled up and off the ground. 
• It’s best to have all covers in place well before sunset 
• Before you cover the plants in late afternoon or early evening, water your plants lightly. Moist soil retains more heat.

• Remove any covers by mid-morning so that plants can get full exposure to the warming sunlight.

Row Covers

How a Frost Affects Crops 

Summer crops will not generally do well in any frost or freeze, so the best thing to do is to pick as much as possible and clean out the garden beds.  If it is a light freeze and you want to try to save a few plants you can cover them with a row cover which will add a few degrees of protection.

Dried beans should be picked when brittle.

Tender crops

The following vegetables are damaged by light frost. They should be protected from frost or harvested before frost.
Beans
Cucumber
Eggplant
Muskmelon
Okra
Pepper
Pumpkin
Squash, summer
Squash, winter
Sweet corn
Sweet potato
Tomato
Watermelon

Very Tender crops to pick:

• Peppers are very tender.  Good news is regardless of the size and color you can pick all you peppers and dry or freeze them
• Muskmelons if not ripe meaning they slip from the vine, will not ripen after being picked.  Feed unripe melons to chickens or livestock
• Watermelons will also Not ripen after being picked so dispose of in the compost or feed to livestock.
• Herbs such as basil are very tender so you can clip stems and dehydrate or freeze dry.
• Pumpkins need to be picked and stored in a garage until the freeze is over.  Then the ripe ones whose rinds you cannot piece with your fingernail can be cured and stored.  Unripe can be used to decorate for fall and to feed to livestock.

Storing Pumpkins and Winter Squash

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  Summer squash needs to be picked and pulled.  By now you are probably happy to not see any more zucchini, right?

• Tomatoes:  pick all ripe and partial ripe tomatoes.  Pick mature green tomatoes with no white that are shiny and firm. Reffer to the post below on how to ripen green tomatoes.  There are also many canning recipes using green tomatoes.  Also save seeds from some of you heirloom tomatoes.

Ripening Green Tomatoes

This can also be the colors of fall as you pick the last peppers and tomatoes before a frost.

• Green beans:  pick all green beans and process as you desire.  When pull green beans you can clip the stalks and leave the roots in the ground.
• Dried Beans:  If you are not growing beans to use as dried beans you should.  They are an easily healthy crop the stores well.  These can be used to eat and as next years seeds. Remove all brittle dried pods.  If the pod is not completely dried do not bother picking because they aren't viable or ready to store.
• Cucumbers:  Pick any that are large enough and remove vines.

 

Hardy Vegetables (Frost hardy; below 28° F):

Can withstand freezing temperatures and hard frosts for short periods without injury.
Broccoli
Brussels sprouts
Cabbage
Collards
Horseradish
Kale
Kohlrabi
Mustard Greens
Onion (sets and seeds)
Parsley
Peas
Radish
Rutabaga
Spinach 

Turnips

 

Swiss Chard a cool season crop that does great in the summer heat and cooler fall weather.

Broccoli and cabbage all tolerate light frost.  You can harvest the cabbage and cauliflower at any size.  Broccoli can be left to have harvests of side shoots

Kale loves a light freeze and it actually sweetens up the kale.

Frost-Tolerant Vegetables (can withstand light frost; 28 to 32° F):

Beet
Carrot
Cauliflower
Celery
Chard
Chinese Cabbage
Endive
Jerusalem artichoke
Lettuce
Onion, garlic, chives
Parsnips
Potatoes
Rhubarb

Root crops such as carrots, beets, rutabagas, radishes, parsnips can be covered with a row cover or mulch around.  They should be fine unless the ground freezes. They actually sweeten up after a light frost.

You want to cover potatoes with layer of mulch or the best option is to dig potatoes cure and store them.

How to Store Potatoes

Purple Viking my favorite potato.  White fleshed and so yummy!

Red La Soda potatoes best disease free red potatoes

There are other factors that can influence whether your garden will experience a frost.  The location makes a difference.  Gardens on slopes are less affected than gardens in the lowest spot on your property.  Slopes allow cold air to move on down the slope and settle in the lowest spot.

If your garden is near wall or the house that can radiate heat that will also temper the cold air.

Wind is beneficial in moving cold air.  If the day was sunny and warm you are less liking to experience extremes. Cloud cover keeps temperatures warmer also.

For most people they are content to move on and let the first frost claim victory over the garden and welcome in the cooler weather.  Either way be gratitude for the harvest you enjoyed and embrace all the finicky weather that fall brings.

Fall Orchard Care & Disease Prevention

With the fruit harvest winding down, don't neglect some essential chores that are necessary in the organic orchard.  My peach trees are already dropping  leaves creating a beautiful golden carpet on the orchard floor.

Keep Watering

While leaves are busy showing their color, underground there is some significant root growth occurring.  The tree is sending nutrients to the roots so watering is still critical until the ground freezes.


Do Not Fertilize


Once the leaves drop nutrient uptake stops.  Fertilizing is not necessary in the fall.

 

Clean up the Orchard

Remove any fallen fruit or fruit remaining on the tree.  Fruit left on the tree will mummify and if infected with any disease will act as an inoculate the next spring. It's a good idea to check the trees after leaf fall to make sure there is no fruit remaining on the tree.

 

 Mow Weeds

Mow down any weeds or grass.  Clean weeds out of the tree wells.

 

Apply Compost

In the fall, repair, fix, and enlarge your tree wells.  The well should reach the drip line of the tree.  Fall is a great time to add a light layer of compost. Mostly compost is added to avoid leaving a bare soil through the winter.  Most of the compost applied in the spring has been worked into the soil.  We add grass clipping this time of year. Be sure that you only use clippings from an organically managed lawn free of herbicides and pesticides.  The compost applied on top of fallen leaves will aid in their decomposition. 

Remove Leaves if Scab has been a problem

Apple scab is more of a problem in areas with cool, moist summers which is not the case in my area.  However, if you do have problems with scab you must clean up the leaf litter because the spores overwinter on the leaves.  Spring applications of sulfur and a fall application of copper after leaf fall will help.
 

 

Apply final spray of the season

When 50-60% of the leaves have fallen, apply the last spray of the season.  This spray helps to decompose and break down the fallen leaves.  I leave all leaf litter in the orchard.  A spray of fish emulsion and neem oil should be targeted at the trunk, branches, and the ground.  According to Micheal Philips, author of The Holistic Orchard, this helps with leaf decomposition, defend against bacterial and fungal disease in bark crevices, and the nitrogen in the fish emulsion helps with spring bud growth. In the fall, tree roots are in full stride seeking out nutrients to store in the cambium tissue.  The fish fertilizer will help with this and ensure healthy spring growth.  This is an important spray do not skip this step in managing your orchard.


Apply a spray of Copper after leaf fall.


Copper is effective in preventing many fungal and bacterial diseases.  I go into more detail about copper and what is controls and how to apply it and if you need to apply it.  

 

Remove any limb spreaders

Limb spreaders are used on younger trees to develop good scaffold branches.  In the fall the limb tissues have hardened off and the spreaders are no longer necessary.  Leaving them on the trees through winter will allow snow and ice to accumulate on them and possible break branches.

Install tree guards on younger trees.

Young bark is a tempting treat for voles, mice, and rabbits. Their gnawing can girdle you trees.  Tree guards protect the bark from damage.  I use a spiral plastic guard.  I put them on young trees  before the first snowfall and remove them in the spring.

Whitewash tree trunks

White washing tree trunks prevents sun scald injury on the trunks. Sun scald injury occurs when there are fluctuations in temperatures. The bark exposed to south and southwest sun become active with warm afternoon temperatures.  They lose some of the cold hardiness because of this and are injured when temperatures drop to below freezing.  To make the white wash, mix latex interior paint with water 1:1.  Paint the entire trunk and lower scaffold of the branches. Do not use exterior paint. Some have antimicrobial products added that can damage the tree.

Disease Prevention and Copper

When leaves fall from your tree it leaves a small scar.  Fungal spores and bacteria can enter these scars causing disease. Theses diseases can effect buds, leaves, fruit, and in some cases the entire tree.

Copper is a broad spectrum fungicide which controls bacterial canker, Coryneum blight or shot hole, anthracnose, bacterial leaf spot, black rots, blights, downey mildews and Septoria leaf spot.

It has been used since the 1700's and is an approved organic spray.  It inactives important enzymes in fungi and bacteria.

Copper does not concentrate in the plant tissue but does persist in the soil.  It should be sprayed  in the dormant season after leaf fall in the fall and before bud break in the spring if necessary.  Over-apllication should be avoided.  Only spray if fungal disease is an issue in your orchard.

Wear appropriate clothing including long sleeves, pants, hat, and gloves.  Protect your eyes and skin because it can irritate them. Follow directions on the product you purchase as well as safety recommendations.

You can purchase fixed copper as a spray or dust.  Copper is a protectant so cover the entire tree surface.  You are creating a barrier to prevent invasion by spores and disease organisms.  As I mentioned before it best used after leaf fall because you are trying to protect leaf scars from becoming an entry point for disease. 

 

Give Thanks for another good harvest.

The Lord has blessed our family with another bountiful harvest.  I'm grateful for the land we cultivate and the harvests it yields.  It provides us with fresh food and a pantry full of produce to enjoy throughout the year.  The work is so satisfying and each year I learn more.

Canned Pineapple Zucchini

Need a new way to use zucchini?  Try canning pineapple zucchini.  Diced or shredded this zucchini tastes like pineapple.  It makes a great treat out of the jar.  It has pineapple flavor with a softer texture.  You could also substitute it in recipes calling for pineapple tidbits or use the shredded pineapple zucchini in bread recipes. 

Ingredients

This recipe came from the USDA Home Canning Guide 2.  This is a great guide available online from the extension office. There are other guides for canning tomato products, vegetable products, meats, pickling, and jams and jellies.  Wonderful resource with information on how to can safely and recipes to try.

USDA Home Canning Guides

ZUCCHINI PINEAPPLE

4 quarts zucchini, grated or diced

1 1/2 cups bottled lemon juice (standardized acidity)

1 can ( 46 oz. ) unsweetened pineapple juice

3 cups sugar

Yield:  8 pints

Peel zucchini and cut into cubes or shred.  Mix the zucchini with all the other ingredients in a large saucepan and bring to a boil.  Simmer for 20 minutes.  Fill hot jars leaving 1/2 headspace.  Remove air bubbles, wipe rims, and adjust lids and process in a water bath canner.  Process half pints and pints for 15 minutes below 1000ft add 10 minutes at 5000 ft. 

Caveli is one of my favorite varieties because it has few seeds

Caveli zucchini

Diced zucchini

Beautiful finished product