ribbit - my garden will be exposed to the same temperatures as yours. The cabbage is more susceptible once it has formed a head (which mine have not yet), and maturing broccoli is hardy down to the low 20's. Of course, collards are hardy down to 10 degrees. According to some of the large scale cole crop growers in another forum, the only night to be concerned with is tomorrow night. They also said to cover with cloth sheets, instead of plastic. We'll see what happens...

EG

Correction.....broccoli and cabbage are more susceptible when heading....and my cabbage is definitely in this critical stage.

ribbit - if you have lettuce, it's gonna have to be pulled. I pulled all of mine yesterday, just to be safe. I'm gonna focus my attention on protecting the broccoli, cabbage, and carrots. If the rest of it doesn't make it - that's fine with me. The snowpeas are gonna be very difficult to protect, but I may throw some large bedsheets over the trellises, just for the heck of it. Twenty one degrees is gonna be pretty hard to overcome.....

EG

Pulled the lettuce this weekend! I still have onions which have already shown some frost damage and the broccoli isn't large enough, but if it's survived this past night I'll have to harvest it.....what's more, I'll prob. have to leave them in place so as not to disturb the roots of the other plants if they survive...right?

I am still holding out here in the desert. I have everything still alive, just not producing much, if anything. I REALLY wanted a tomato... what to do, what to do... Oh, I HAVE to get some kind of make-shift green house.

The old blankets have worked well down to 27-28 degrees several different nights already. Nothing has died from the frost yet. I am not sure what "hard freeze" is yet, but I don't think we've had one. Would "the man" be opposed to old blankets being thrown over them and lifted off the next day to extend your season a wee bit?

Blessings,
Angela

ribbit - don't pull the entire plant, just cut the stem.

Angela - once the temps get below 50-55 degrees, tomatoes on the vine will not ripen. Just an fyi.

EG

Ribbit, not sure how hard a freeze you're looking at, but broccoli is a cool-weather crop for that reason, they survive frosts. But if you think the freeze period is going to be short (less than a week), you can easily throw a steak or two in the ground and thow a blanket over it at night. Stranger things than that have been used as makeshift row covers. For homegrown broccoli, I think it's worth it.

Good luck and enjoy!

HA! Angelady, I think the "wee" is in the right direction. Dogs would have a field day "wee-ing" on anything new out there. That, and we all have only one set of sheets...they're on our beds at the moment. They said on the news we're going mid 20's for ten hours or more. Everything looks like it survived last night and I'm hopeful for tonight.

That and the man is being more than understanding with three additional 3X9 boxes going out there in February and the innitial cost of filling them, keeping in mind I'm covering the grass he's worked so hard to cultivate...I'll let him have his no compost/no cover way without a fight.

It's gonna be 21 here tonight, and it's 28 now - at 9pm. I laid bed sheets over everything but the collards. The bad thing about it is.... it's gonna be the same thing this weekend....bummer.

Sinfonian, Angela - this is gonna be a hard freeze, which is when it stays below 26 degrees for more than 6 hours. The broccoli and cabbage will be exposed to the threshold of hardiness. I've got my fingers crossed. The carrots and collards are good down to the lower teens, but everything else is really questionable.

EG

Hey EG, could you share your cabbaging secrets? What variety are you growing? Anything special you're doing to get them to head up? I got a couple of tiny heads, but not much. I certainly wasn't able to do 1/sq ft. Help!
A friend of mine who's a farmer said you can attach a hose to your dryer run off and use that to warm under your hoops. Just thought I'd mention it.

Carolyn - the cabbage is bonnie hybrid, and i'm not doing anything special. When doing 1/sqft, Mel suggests trimming the outer edges of the plants if they become a problem. My cabbage has only small, loose heads right now. I've heard that before on the dryer vent, but man -that would be a long hose from the house! And also, the heating element in a clothes dryer is rated at somewhere between 4,000 and 5,000 watts. That would add up if you had to do this several times a month. The cost for running the heating element alone would be:

5000 watts x 8 hours/1000 = 40kwh
40 x $.08 = $3.20/night

I could buy all of the broccoli I currently have in the garden from the grocery store for less than $10, if frozen - and round #2 is going to happen on Friday night. The same exact thing......21 degrees. This cold weather is just freaking my world right now....it's not supposed to be like this - not now...

I took the sheets off of everything this morning, and of course - all of the plants were stiff....I don't know if they are alright or not. I was looking at the weather channel this morning, and it was 29 degrees in Gainsville, Fla. That's unbelievable!

EG

Looks like I may have made it out alive....this time. The broccoli in the small pot on the proch bit the dust. It's head had brown patches which I guess were frost damage, but the two broccoli in the SFG look to be fine. The leek, cabbage and dill seemed to laugh at the weather. I think the cabbage even got bigger, or that could be that it's just getting more sun now that the leaves have fallen. I haven't checked the onions in the pots out front, but I'm hopeful. Now if we can just survive round 2 this weekend.

BTW, speaking of that dill...it's just about taken over the box it's in. Any ideas of what to do with it? Anyone want it when it's dried, assuming you can tell me how to do it. I've never used dill in my life and just companion planted it for the other stuff in the boxes.

I'd love some of the dill seed! Not too much, just some to plant in the spring. Just cut the stalks and fasten the ends together with a rubber band (keeps them tight as they dry) and hang them in a dry place until they get nice and dry. You should be able to shake the seeds right off the heads into a paper bag.

I like to cut the dill weed and stir it into mayonnaise for a sauce to serve with salmon. Of course, the entire heads can be used for dill pickles, or I prefer dilled green beans. They reseed themselves in the garden, once you have them they are practically forever.

Granny

Here is a link that might be useful: Annie's Kitchen Garden

From what you said, I gather that it has to flower, right? So far, no flower, just a massive green monster. I'll let you know when it does and you can have the bugger.

I used fresh dill by the handful when making pickles this year.

Dried, they compliment carrots well.

And congrats on surviving round 1.

Yikes EG! LOL, I meant just your normal dryer usage. I normally do any drying I do at night b/c it's not peak usage time. Course, we have 2 small kids, so I probably do more drying than most.

Carolyn - Oh!ok.....BTW, my stuff made it through Tuesday night's 21 degrees. Now, for 18 on Friday....we'll see what happens.

ribbit - I'm glad that your stuff made it. Good luck with Friday night.....

EG

Hey, I'm right there with you guys. I'm in Atlanta and we have a similar weather pattern to you EG. Round one finally did in the last of my warm weather crops. Up until now, I still had eggplants and tomatoes producing. I harvested the last of the eggplants, but lost many small green tomatoes to the freeze. Cole crops seem to have come through well under a hoop house and the pea trellis's survived with bedsheet protection. Amazingly the thyme, rosemary, parsley, oregano, carrots and radishes in the second story deck containers made it through with no problem - with no covering. The deck tomatoes and pepper plants had no such luck.

Finger's crossed for us all for the rest of the week. Then hopefully we'll get a warm spell...

Susancol - Sorry to hear about your summer veggies, but that's wonderful news on the cole crops!
The forecasters have changed my Friday night low to 17 now...I'm planning on covering everything tonight, then just leaving it covered until Sunday morning. I'll peek in there on Saturday, to see if anything needs to be pulled. Oh, the suspense is killing me!

EG

susancol, I'm right there with you in Atl, actually, just a bit north in the outskirts of Winder/Auburn. The other night was brutally cold, but I only noticed slight discoloration in the broccoli which I pulled tonight given Friday's forecast. Just wish I had the chance to eat it. I had it on the counter and went to change clothes and when I got back the boy and the man had devoured it all.

It's the second time that's happened.

Next spring, the broccoli comes with me to the bedroom!
I know how that sounds.
That's not what I meant....what I meant is....
*sigh* Where's john when you need a good beverage. Note I didn't say BM, even though I just did now.

Whatever. :)

ha! that's funny....

EG

Yep...forecast is for 16 degrees now, so...i'm pulling everything that is ready. Stupid global warming....

I figure the 4 trellises of snowpeas are toast, turnip greens, potatoes, and possibly even cabbage....but i'm gettin' my dang carrots and broccoli! The possibility of a large coldframe for next year is looking better all the time.

EG

How'd you fare, EG?

I'm toast.

I had already pulled the broccoli, but today I dumped the two large pots I had some of them growing in. Side shoots just never happened.

I moved the onions in the pot to the garage to thaw out and I'll pull them tomorrow although I have no idea what they'll look like.

I pulled my tiny, tiny leeks in the SFG as that just looked plain sad. I'll put it in some soup tomorrow or something.

That bushy dill is now laying on the ground.

The brussles were fallen over this morning, but looked perkier now so I left them

The cabbage has me stumped. It's not doing much of anything (headding wise), but doesn't seem to mind the fact it was a stiff as a board this morning.

Don't know weather to leave the brussles and cabbage or just call it. I suppose I can wait a few more weeks to decide.

ribbit - I think the experimental potatoes are the only things that were killed. I harvested all of the big collard leaves, broccoli heads, and about half of the carrots. I'll have to uncover everything tomorrow, and get a few pics. I'll leave the remaining stuff, in hopes of getting a decent harvest later. Sorry yours didn't fare very well....

EG

The fat lady has been taking a shower for days and days.

We had a spot of sun stick its head out yesterday and I grabbed the dogs and did not even make is 1/4 the way around the pond before it started to pour.

I am starting to get cabin fever!

It has not been that cold but has been very windy.

The rain is supposed to stop next week.

Mike-in-paradise I think we have wind in Oklahoma, but I just can't imagine what it must be like in the middle of the ocean where you are. I haven't been reading this forum for long but I get the idea that your home is not where the garden is. Is that right?

I have always wanted to see Nova Scotia, but had never even thought of visiting Newfoundland. I have traveled in parts of Canada, but haven't been in the eastern parts. Looks interesting.

Quote: I get the idea that your home is not where the garden is. Is that right?

I live in the town of Paradise (pop 14,000) , Newfoundland which is a suburb of the capital city of St. John's.

Town of Paradise

I have 3 ways to go from home in Paradise to the garden which is in Holyrood...

Town of Holyrood

1)4 lane divided highway it is 40 km (25 mins)
2)By pass Highway and Local = 36 km (30 mins)
3)The very scenic and slow local road = 32 km (35 mins)

I avoid the highway when it is A) Snowing due to whiteouts B) Foggy C) Dark due to the moose on the roads.

All of eastern Canada( Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, PEI, New Brunswick) is very scenic and have very friendly people. You will not go wrong in picking any of these places to vacation!

Newfoundland had more remote areas as the population is mainly on the east and west coast with a smattering of towns in between. There is 800 km's(about 500 miles) between the east and west coast. You can drive over 50 miles on the Trans Canada Highway in some parts without seeing a side road or a driveway.

Come and vacation in the spring and see the icebergs and whales.

This picture was taken about 200 feet from the square foot garden.

These pictures were taken a couple of km's from the Square foot garden

Yes we get lots of wind! We would have a whole different climate here without the wind as it makes it seem a lot colder than it really is.

Here is a link that might be useful: My Square Foot Garden

Mike-in-Paradise

I have been to Alberta, British Columbia, Yukon, Suskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, and Quebec although some of them were a long time ago. I guess I need to see the eastern part of Canada now. I think I can skip NW Terr. and not miss it. LOL I have traveled the Queens Hiway once and the Alaskan-Canadian Highway four times. Much of Canada is very pretty. I have lived in Alaska twice and the last time I had a small garden. The growing season is short but since the sun shines so many hours in the summer, it kind of makes up the difference.

My grandfather was born in Nova Scotia, and moved to Vermont as a child. I have always wanted to go to that part of Canada, but I've only been to Montreal in the east.

I have a book of photos and a couple trinkets from a family member's trip to Labrador in the mid 1930's. It's really quite neat. It's been a while since I looked at it, but I remember seeing pictures of dogs, I think they called them Labrador dogs, but they weren't like a lab, I forget if they looked like Newfies? I'll have to find that book again...

I moved to CO from Alaska last year, so I've made the drive up the AK Highway twice, once in summer, once in winter...

(In case it's not clear, there IS a hint of the yellow center line in this picture...)

I didn't have a garden in AK, but we had a lot of raspberries. In the fall, the moose would come by and strip all the leaves off the upper parts of the bushes. I still find myself a little leery of driving in the dark, which never bothered me before AK. I was so paranoid about hitting a moose... it's wearing off now though.

This gal is eating my currant bush not my raspberries though... The fence means nothing to a moose... it was interesting sometimes letting the dogs out at night, especially because a bullish young lab mix, loose in the yard with a moose, is an idiot. My older dog (the one that mike-in-paradise kidnapped somehow, I've seen the photos...) had a special OMG MOOSE! bark, and as soon as I went out the back door, she'd come sit quietly beside me.

There are caribou on the island but they are currently in population decline (Unlike the moose).

There is a Caribou herd about an hours drive from us down on a part of the island that is part tundra.

Gas went down again this week so travel is getting more affordable!

It is pouring rain again this morning. I have not made it out to the garden in a week now and I expect it to be pretty soggy out there. I still have some chard, endive, onions and carrots in the ground.

My stuff made it....Some of it looks kinda rough, but still alive. I put some pics on my blog today of the aftermath.

EG

Here is a link that might be useful: EG's Garden Blog

Wow Mike, I had no idea you lived a half-mile away from your garden! And I thought 20 feet from my back door was a bit far to go! Wow. I assume you own both places? Any reason you didn't build a home there? It looks beautiful and like you have plenty of room. Just curious. You're situation interests me!

Quote: Wow Mike, I had no idea you lived a half-mile away from your garden!

I wish.. by half-mile I assume that you meant to say 1/2 hour. We bought the property with the full intention of building and moving there but the 1/2 hour drive into town is a concern.

Even bigger is the fact that there is not a lot in the town in the way of stores. There are a couple of things that are supposed to happen which are:

1) Extending the bypass Highway closer to the town, this is going ahead and construction should start in the next year or so.

2) They were going to put in a big box store development about 15km from the town but the town and the developer got into a disagreement about who would pay the 2 million dollars for the sewer extension and the developer pulled out. The town where the big box development was to go has put it out to tender but not sure what will happen there.

3) Housing values have been increasing a lot in Paradise and not so much in Holyrood so I want to take advantage of getting the most $$$ for my property. Even with the housing downturn elsewhere in North America we still are having a very strong housing market as there are a couple of new offshore oil fields being developed and that is really propping up the local economy. We will feel some slowdown in 2009 I am sure but I think it will be a lot milder than other parts of North America.

Ah good to know, thanks. Just curious. My brother is really interested in a long term goal of buying property and homesteading it with a smallish home and everything one needs to be self sufficient. Sounds ok to me too. And what you've got is a dream come true. Good luck with all the pieces falling into place for you.