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.
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| Late planting of spinach will be covered and so delicious after a frost. |
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.
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.
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| Dried beans should be picked when brittle. |
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.
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.
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| 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
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| Swiss Chard a cool season crop that does great in the summer heat and cooler fall weather. |
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.
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| Purple Viking my favorite potato. White fleshed and so yummy! |
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| 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.
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