First Frost

What a busy week we gardeners in the USDA Zone 7b Piedmont of NC have had! First frost arrived almost on time in the wee hours on Wednesday 10/24, followed closely by our first freeze this morning. [Want to find out the average dates of First and Last Frost for your garden? Go to the Dave's Garden site and enter your ZIP code: http://davesgarden.com/guides/freeze-frost-dates/#b]

My own To Do list to prepare for First Frost (which research assigns to October 20 for HPNC) included:

1. Harvest warm-season crops that would be injured or killed by frost or freezing temperatures. Tender crops still producing in our Kitchen Garden include green and jalapeño peppers, okra, and eggplant. Here's a photo of the green pepper haul, below.

2. Cover cool-season crops -- meaning all the cabbage family crops (cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, and collards), lettuce, spinach, carrots, and beets. Turnip greens  (shown below with a row of nasturtiums pre-frost) are actually better after a light frost or two, so I choose not to cover them. I also didn't cover the peas, since they grow up a fence and already have a straw-mulch.

This is the most labor-intensive part of the frost-prep work. I had to install the hoops, spread the cover fabric out in order to cut to size for the 5 new-this-year raised beds, spread the covers, clip to the hoops with clothespins, and anchor the edges of the covers with rocks. You see I had a helper with that whole cutting and anchoring process below. Ahem.

We bought these GardenQuilt fabric covers four years ago from Gardeners' Supply (click here to go there: http://www.gardeners.com/GardenQuilt-Cover/11748,default,pd.html).  They work splendidly and have outlived their promise of two years' service. I've stored them off-season in the shed, folded (more or less) in a laundry basket, making sure they are thoroughly dry before putting away. Since we had 40 foot rows, we ordered the 50' length...hence the need to cut them down to fit the new 6' boxes. (The Row Garden is now mainly for Warm-Season crops.) Because this is a fabric, not plastic, I can leave the covers in place without worrying that warmer temps will damage the crops. What's not to love?

3. Bring vulnerable container-bound perennials like citrus trees, ferns, herbs, and palms that are living north of their Zones into the plasticized screen porch for Winter protection. There are a couple of mature and mostly yellow lemons on the Improved Meyer Lemon tree, along with one full-size green (immature) and loads of tiny little lemons from a recent late blooming. I imagine the little ones won't survive the drastic change in available light, but a gardener can dream, can't she?

4. Empty soil out of clay pots to keep them from cracking from expansion during a freeze. While working at my potting bench, I potted up some crocus and tulip bulbs to spend the Winter in the shed...and to be brought out in late February to encourage Easter-time blooms. And then, I pulled all my zonal geraniums from their containers, shook the soil off the roots, trimmed the stems by half...and put them in a paper grocery bag to also spend the Winter in the shed. Iowa State Extension's site has a great guide to dormant storage and overwintering geraniums here: http://www.ipm.iastate.edu/ipm/hortnews/2004/9-17-2004/geraniums.html

5. Cut all open blooms on zinnias and roses to bring inside for a huge vase of fresh flowers. There are worlds of buds on both that may not survive a hard freeze, but aren't far enough along for a bouquet. Sigh. Still, I must focus on how much we have enjoyed all the beautiful blossoms this year...and hope that a few last until the warmer weather on the way. I also gave the basil its final haircut, since this heat-lover won't survive temps below 50 degrees...popped the cuttings into another vase, hoping for a rooted branch or two to pot up. Fingers crossed...toes, too!

Whew! I need a day of rest...how about you?