37 in my garden

[digitS']

and it is only 4am!

What will it be this year? A freeze followed by a couple weeks of warmth?

If it freezes in 1 garden, will it freeze in the others? This is what happened in 2011. The gardens I expected would not freeze, got hit. Meanwhile, I was standing by the sprinklers 20 miles away ready to ward off frost where there was none!

I am trying to figure out when the coldest moment will be but there's little question that I will be there well before sunrise. Will that be soon enuf? Time to saddle the horse . . .

Steve

 

[897tgigvib]

Reminds me of when I lived in Montana Digit. We'd hope for the season ending frost not to be before September 15th. But you'd never know when. Could be like '92 when it did light snows on August 9th, and hard frosted on August 23rd. Or could be like '07 when it was mid October before the first killing frost.

You know the routine for northerners. Pick the green Tomatoes and brown bag them. Same with some of the squaqsh. Cover some things with blankets. Maybe make a fire. Piles of manure and fresh lawn trimmings might help.

It's 56.1 here right now. I sure do have an appreciation for the weather here compared to living up north. (My right eye hurts right now)

 

[Collector]

34.3 here at 6:00 am, DW is manning the water here just in case! BRRR.

 

[digitS']

I think we will have bad news from both Heather and Thistlebloom.

My gardens are too big to cover without a Herculean effort, Marshall. I remember a severely frost-bitten dahlia that was still alive in the corner of my yard on December 1st one year! I'd decided not to save the tubers of that plant but it really got lucky with several more months of life!

Running the sprinklers only helps if it is a light frost. It was a light frost . . . but the aster & zinnia blooms look like they've been hit with a blowtorch!

There was a little ice on this cucumber plant :

cellphone photo

I am afraid that one didn't get much benefit from the sprinkler and that was true for the pumpkins & winter squash. I have a pumpkin that is actually out on the lawn and almost completely beyond the reach of the garden sprinklers. I used that "proverbial" pumpkin as a guide. When the water droplet begin changing to ice - I turned the sprinklers on (6am). When the ice began to melt, I felt the overhead water had done the best it could for them. The garden soil was - very fortunately - already completely saturated from running the sprinklers the night before. I think that fact, as much as my efforts this morning, saved the tomatoes & peppers.

Other 2 gardens were fine!

tired . . .

Steve

 

[Smart Red]

Br-r-r-r! That's cold! My calendar 'signs' indicate we'll have our first frost September 17th. That is early for here and I'm certainly hoping that it's wrong.

I mentioned just this morning to my DH that I need to start bringing plants inside for the winter. We were supposed to get the sun room soffit and overhang redone when we did the rest of the house, but. . . . .

Now I suspect it won't get done until next spring. I know that once the plants come in, there won't be room to work. So sad! DS was planning to build shelves and finish the inside side walls when he helped with the soffit. Sigh!

 

[swampducks]

I think I already got hit by a mild frost. I've got crispy cucumber leaves after one night hit 43 and another hit 41. There were no frost warnings so I was totally unprepared.

 

[897tgigvib]

I feel for the northern and high altitude gardeners. Having gardened in zone barely 4 for 21 years. Now back in Northern California, during the time of year I was doing the same hoping for a couple more weeks, I am now hoping for reblooms on my Beans, letting Tomatoes ripen on the vine, and watching Turnips and Winter Radishes and salad things grow. My season will end about when my direct sunlight ends.

All you can do, cover things, make basic cover frames, make piles of fresh grass clippings and manure, sprinkle water. I know. Wishing you could heat the outdoors. I was even hoping someone would launch a weather adjusting satellite to use mirrors to direct a dose of earlly morning sunlight...

Things like greenhouses are great. My boss up in Montana had a real nice one. That photo of me holding the Giant Syrian Tomato was taken in it. But greenhouses can be expensive. Ya do what ya can, grow things fast as ya can, use every trick in the book to get a couple weeks extra on both ends of the season. Ya never know if it'll be a good long Indian Summer or not, or if you can dare to plant tender things outside before June 1st, or if there'll be a killing frost June 22nd, hail on the 4th of July, or snow in mid August.

There were times I saw my tough as nails boss, big Roxi, put her face in her hands as we were covering plants at the nursery while it hailed golf ball sized hail, every one of them jaggedly broken in half, bruising us, our backs, her husband without a hat getting bruises on his head. I slammed my hat on his head, the tough nut!

Ot the time a tornado touched down north of town then vanished, luckily! Northern gardeners are a breed apart, and that is for certain.

 

[897tgigvib]

somehow this posted twice...sorry

 

[NwMtGardener]

Yeah, not sure what to expect tonight...brought everything in from the garden that was even remotely ready, and covered most of the garden with plastic. But i dont think the plastic is going to do much good...its supposed to be 28 tonight. And if it doesnt get frozen tonight, there's always tomorrow night!

On a good note, i brought in a boatload of tomatoes, more green beans, 5 giant spaghetti squash, the last of the nasturtium flowers and greens, and cherry tomatoes. Still have lots of cherrys coming on, be nice to be able to harvest those.

 

[NwMtGardener]

Should i water tonight? Its really dry in there.