Sunday, September 9, 2012

Preparing for Frost

Chives drying on the plant stand, roughly chopped.
Seeds drying:  yellow beans, peas, asparagus, northern beans.  They need a shake a couple of times a day.

The temperature here took a nose dive yesterday.  8°C right now, with a high of 15°C expected for the day.  A low of 4°C is forecast for Monday.  That's a scary temperature.  The first night we had 4° forecast last year, it actually dropped to -2°C.  So, let's just say, I have trust issues with the weatherman.

Today I will be picking tomatoes.  Not all of them yet, but a good bucket for salsa, along with anything that looks like it might ripen in the window.  I'll pull another batch of beets, for the greens, just in case, though I don't plan to can them today.  And of course, I'll get any cukes, squash, and peppers that are ready.  And I guess I'll harvest what I can of the Lady's Mantle.  I'm not sure if that poor plant did well enough to return next year.  The spring frost hit it hard, and it didn't do well in the summer heat either.  It's about the same size now as when I transplanted it.

#2 closed the side of the greenhouse yesterday.  If we're lucky and don't get a freeze, then the greenhouses should keep producing.  Time will tell.

6 comments:

  1. Sorry to hear the weather is getting cold up there already. Hopefully, we have at least a month before it gets really cold here. In a week or so, I should let the beans go to seed. Drat, winter comes back - year after year.

    Looking at those chives makes me wonder if a good substitute for potato chips (when cravings strike) would be a hot, baked potato with some salt, sour cream and a few of those chives sprinkled on top.

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    1. That's the thing that annoys me. We got frost that night, and now we're warming back up. It was 17°C this morning at 6, and a low of 6°C forecast for this week. We get some beautiful sunny days in October. It's just the odd night in September that it dips a little too low, and cuts off our growing season.

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  2. I admit,being here in the US I had to check to make sure what your Celsius numbers are compared to our Fahernheit :) ( I knew it was cold,but wanted get a better idea in our measurements). That's too cold for this time of year! I'm keeping my fingers crossed that you don't get a hard freeze that ruins your garden.

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    1. Sorry, Donna. Sometimes I remember to do the conversions. Thanks.

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  3. Good for you for keeping a watch on the weather. I'm not very good at doing that. I can't believe it's getting that cold already! This may be contrary to a prepper mind set, but do you use an electric dehydrator for any of your drying?

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    1. I was much more relaxed about the whole thing this year. There have been years that the garden was really just getting started, no frost warnings out, and we'd get a killer freeze. And I'd cry. Literally, sit out there and bawl, lol. I'm learning!

      I don't have a dehydrator. We get very little humidity here- dry heat, dry cold, so not too much trouble just letting things dry on the shelves. If it starts raining I might pop them in the oven on low.

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