do you think these plants will survive these temps over a 60-day span?

Of course they will. I garden in Colorado all winter and people all across the country do the same every year. You simply need to protect them from cold temps at night. Growith will be much slower but as long as they get ~6-7 hrs of sun they'll be fine.

Dan

I noticed my snow peas have suffered some freeze damage, but the shelling peas are fine and tasty! So lesson #1 for me would probably be to stick to shelling peas over the winter, since that's what my family prefers anyway.

So you think I should cover everything with row covers? I've never used them before and always get confused when I look at all the different types. Most floating row cover descriptions talk about more tender plants like lettuce and peppers. Is it necessary for plants that already purport to be frost tolerant when our temps don't really get lower than 30ish?

I'm also confused as to whether or not I can leave them on day and night. It's dark by the time I get home and not convenient to do much tending on a day-to-day basis. My goal had been to try to find veggies that would simply tolerate our winter temps in open-air, though I wouldn't mind throwing a cover down if it's something I can leave in place. Like I mentioned, this is my first attempt to garden through the winter so I'm a total novice when it comes to row covers. It sounds simple on forums and articles until I go to a site and try to order something. Then I turn stupid!

With you zone, you won't even need row covers for the frost tolerant vegetables. I used to cover my frost tolerant plants up, but I left some out as a test and they were fine, so I never cover them up now and my temperatures get into the lower 20s and teens several times a year.

Loribee, I'm in SR and we don't usually have this cold all winter. Last year we had a couple of "hard freezes" like last week, but normally it will stay above freezing with just some light frosts. The rain warms things up.
I've had all but the cabbage (I don't grow it, so I don't know) do fine here in Sonoma Co.. I have lettuces, chard, kale, leeks, sugar snap peas, celery, carrots, artichokes.
Good luck! Nancy

I use 3/4" black poly tubing for my cheap hoops. You can use any sort of decent row cover and secure by making clips out of the poly tubing cut into 2" lengths and cutting out a small section lengthwise. Sanding cut edges makes fabric last longer. Roll it down and secure against wind when not in use. Don't have to use it every night but the real cold nights just roll up and clip on.

Dan

While most of your produce will be ok, I would cover it with row cover to reduce the stress on the plants.

I leave my row cover on all the time, unless it gets really hot. However, I am like you, I don't have time to remove and move back. Also, I have over 700 feet of row cover inside all my high tunnels. It would take too long to remove and move back each day.

Here in Zone 5 in Kansas, I have Arugula, Bok Choy, Beets, Broccoli, Carrots, Lettuce, Spinach, Radishes, Turnips, Kale, Green Onions, and Cauliflower all growing under row cover inside my high tunnels. I also have Broccoli and Cauliflower growing outside under row cover.

Here is a picture of two rows covered with row cover. This was taken in early November. I used row cover to exclude the grasshopper problem I had. Now it has frozen, the hoppers are gone. Now the row cover is used to keep them nice and warm at night.

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Thanks Dan and Jr! Dan, I've got lots of that black tubing left over from my drip system. What a good idea. I'd gone ahead and ordered some Agribon-19 floating row cover from Johnny's and may experiment with it a bit. I'm wondering if I can also use it as a shade cloth when temps get up in the 100's. I lost some of my best tomatoes and peppers to 110 degree temps this fall. I'd read somewhere that it can double as a shade cloth, though I presume it would have to be draped loosely or staked over the plant without closing the heat in.

Has anyone used it for shade?

I use it for shade on my coldframe in late Mar-April. Making it enclosed will heat up your plants and cook them, so you must ensure air circulation in summer. Shade cloth works better and will last longer though.

Dan

If you want to save some money on your row cover, buy it from Morgan County Seeds. While I love Johnny's, their supplies are high priced.

Jay

Here is a link that might be useful: Morgan County Seeds

Oh, thanks for the link! That is quite a bit cheaper for what appears to be the same product.

"While I love Johnny's, their supplies are high priced."

I agree. I went to buy row cover material from them and saw the prices and said forget it. They're a good company but their prices are way high. Thank you so much for the link.

Greg
Southern Nevada

I really like Johnny's, the have some of the best seeds around. I really like their fast turnaround, fastest of any company I have ordered from. Usually I order on Sunday and I get my order on Wednesday or Thursday.

I have used Morgan County for supplies, but it can be up to 2-3 weeks before the order is processed. They were pretty fast a month ago, but in the spring is a different story.

Jay

I very much like Johnny's for seed - very high quality and very useful descriptions - but that's it. I purchase row cover and many other supplies locally to keep my money moving around my town (my veggie garden is measured in just several hundred sf, though).

Dan

I've always had the best luck with Johnny's seeds, and once I learned that they'll last through a few seasons, I can justify the cost. But you're right about the supplies. 50 feet of the Agribon cost me $17 where the price for twice that at Morgan County was only $12. It's one thing to pay an extra 50 cents for a pack of seeds, but that's a pretty steep difference on supplies!