Freezing In Middle Georgia (so glad we did not plant in beds yet!!)

A surprise freeze tonight. We did not plant in our beds yet. Whew!! All the seedlings were brought in tonight (we have been putting them in the sun during the day). Prior to today, our exchange office encouraged me to plant outdoors. (hmmm)

Well I have 3 beds planted. Most are cold weather veggies and should have been able to take the freeze. BUT, I worked so hard on the seedlings (and also bought some transplants) that I could not take the chance on any of them getting a set back. I decided to make a long hoop house over all three beds. Each bed is 3' by 8'. Planted in the beds are:

5 varieties of broccoli
4 varieties of potatoes
3 varieties of spinach
3 varieties of lettuce
4 varieties of garlic
3 varieties of onions
6 varieties of carrots
Kale
Brussel sprouts

Here is the 32 foot long hoop house:


Right now the temperature inside the hoop house is 40*. But I only have one outdoor thermometer so I do not know if it is doing any good. But should at least protect them from a frost.

Yep! Put the plastic over my pvc umbrella frame a few hours ago and keeping my fingers crossed.

Yolos, bnoles, you are both very resourceful. I'm sure your precautions will pay off.

We had multiple days in the 80's, followed by multiple tornadoes, and temps in the 60's, and this morning it is 25 degrees. We even have a chance of snow tonight. I cannot remember it snowing this late in March since the 1980's.

The problem with our climate is that if you plant semi-frost-hardy plants that also bolt in hot weather, it is a crap shoot. You can get a frost and 90 degrees in the same week here.

Of course, we have the most allergists per capita in the country, and they stay fully booked. With the city situated in a bowl with hills 360 degrees around, all the pollen, pollution, and mold settle in the bottom. Worst of all is the invasive honeysuckle which produces no pollen but causes more allergies than everything else and will grow in a crack in a driveway.

Hardcoir,
Weather here certainly is fickle. As I mentioned above, my exchange in Fayette County encouraged me to begin sowing seed outdoors. This weather took them by surprise as well.

We are originally from Los Angeles. My wife suffers horribly during allergy season here. In urban L.A., this is never a problem. Adjusting to Georgia was difficult at first, but after 7 years here, we finally feel like this is home. Having never planted a garden before, I never paid attention to spring weather. Now it's critical that I do!

Windmere wrote:Hardcoir,
Weather here certainly is fickle. As I mentioned above, my exchange in Fayette County encouraged me to begin sowing seed outdoors. This weather took them by surprise as well.

We are originally from Los Angeles. My wife suffers horribly during allergy season here. In urban L.A., this is never a problem. Adjusting to Georgia was difficult at first, but after 7 years here, we finally feel like this is home. Having never planted a garden before, I never paid attention to spring weather. Now it's critical that I do!

Windmere,

Spring in Atlanta can sometimes be the worst winter you can have. Gotta stay prepared for whatever comes our way 'cause you never know for sure.

Windmere,

Spring in Atlanta can sometimes be the worst winter you can have. Gotta stay prepared for whatever comes our way 'cause you never know for sure.

[/quote]

Indeed bnoles. Yesterday a Georgia native friend told me that his father planted the first day after Easter. He said his father never had any problems so long as he stuck to that practice.

Hardcoir,

I forgot to mention about the Honeysuckle: We had it in Los Angeles at when I was a boy, I would pick the flowers and suck our the sweet nectar. Since it grows vigorously in our neighborhood, I taught my ten year old daughter my nectar trick. HOWEVER, I had no idea that this plant contributed to our wretched state during allergy season!!

When I first moved to Georgia eons ago, I was told to plant at Easter also. But back in those days, none of my friends ever had early spring gardens. They were planting warm weather veggies. Of course Easter does not come the same time every year (depends on the first full moon after ????).

But if you want to try cool weather veggies in the spring here in Ga (like lettuce, cauliflower, broccoli etc) you have to take a chance and plant them early. Last year I did not plant early and every one of those things bolted before they produced edible veggies. Of course last year we had a very short time frame before it got hot. A lot of cool weather veggies are better planted in the fall. But I am trying again this spring but planting about a month earlier than last year.

yolos wrote:When I first moved to Georgia eons ago, I was told to plant at Easter also. But back in those days, none of my friends ever had early spring gardens. They were planting warm weather veggies. Of course Easter does not come the same time every year (depends on the first full moon after ????).

But if you want to try cool weather veggies in the spring here in Ga (like lettuce, cauliflower, broccoli etc) you have to take a chance and plant them early. Last year I did not plant early and every one of those things bolted before they produced edible veggies. Of course last year we had a very short time frame before it got hot. A lot of cool weather veggies are better planted in the fall. But I am trying again this spring but planting about a month earlier than last year.

We eat salads a lot. So lettuce in our garden is an important choice for us. Am trying to take advantage of present cool conditions with seedlings in peat pellets. In the sun by day, and brought in at night. I truly hope to get a harvest before our blazing summer. We shall see.

I got mine covered but did not join in on the pics. Last week I made my moveable tulle covers to stop the bugs. It doubles as a plastic 'tent' when it gets cold. I made it so that it will hinge to the left or right for access to each side of the bed. In the background you can see my original thought; just set it on the ground. I like the swinging method better.

Here is both beds covered for the night

Used buckets for the tomatoes, reverse side of beds and the misses flowers in the background.


Folks we have another cold night coming up next Monday night. The local nursery operator has not ordered vegie transplants yet, he also said to wait till good Friday or later. He expects one more freeze.

You have given me several ideas Pepper! Thanks so much for posting your beautiful photographs.

You are welcome Windmere. That is what this place is all about sharing ideas ; what we are/have been doing for all to see and use. There is no reason for everyone to make the same mistakes; that could be learned from what did not work for someone else.

This is one way I get an early start on my spring garden. These were lettuce transplants planted in this rolling planter on Feb 26, 2013. I roll it onto my porch during the day and into the house if it is too cold at night. And this time of year it gets about 6 hours of sun on a sunny day. The only problem is that I don't yet have my own home grown tomatoes and cucs. Maybe I can keep this in a shady place this summer so I can have a complete home grown salad (fresh lettuce, tomatoes, cucs plus a few sweat peas, squash, carrots, radish, etc) if I can get it all to come ripe at the same time (which I know won't happen).

Somebody on this forum had a link to where this planter can be purchased but I can't remember who. So whoever it was, thanks. It is a little expensive but sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do.

Hi yolos, I believe that planter is a city picker or patio picker and has been carried by Home Depot. I have 3 of them myself as well as 6 Earth Boxes, but do prefer my SFGs to anything else.

Pepper that is a great idea, how you made your swinging arm covers! I'm stealing that when I build my beds!

Because it gets wicked hot here, I'm just going to grow my salad greens in the house. I have the grow lights now, so why not? I don't think they would grow very well here because of the funky weather. I think it's too late to plant them. (Of course, I could be wrong. I'll probably plant some outside also, just as an experiment. Perhaps under the tomatoes or peppers or something that will shade them from the sun. Beans, maybe?) But I swear it was almost 90 degrees the other day (ok, maybe not 90, but it sure felt like it). And it's only March. And then, it got down to around 35 or 40 that night. *heavy sigh*

I may be new to gardening, but I swear the weather was never like this when I was growing up. Last year I wore tank tops all winter long when I walked my dog. This year it's a total crap shoot as to what the weather is going to do. It's unseasonably cold at night for this time of year, but during the day, it can also get unseasonably hot. Sooooooo...

The design is simple. It takes 4 pieces of 1/2 in pvc, 4 three way corner pieces, 2 "T" pieces, and 10ea 3/4 cable clamps w/screws, then 3 lengths of 1/2 flex tubing. My beds are 4'x8'; a 4x4 would need 2 PVC and no "t's", 2 flex tubes and 8 clamps.

The trick is to warp the clamps on the end and the center two on each side( the single ones on the swinging sides for 4x4's). This holds the cage down in the wind. On the swing sides place a clamp on each corner to catch the frame when it swings over; do not warp these corner clips. The pvc is bent out from under the warped clamps to remove or swing.

Last year I used the pvc stuck into the ground to hold the tulle you have to remove part of it each time you want in, been thinking about how to make the design better.

I will do a 'how 2' thread on this when I get a chance.

Thanks Pepper!

I would love to see a "how to" on your design pepper!

WHERE IS THE SUN

yolos wrote:WHERE IS THE SUN

Are you starting to feel like you live on the dark side of the moon?

I don't exactly know what the weather is like in the PNW but that's how I feel.

I am making 21" x 21" x 6" cedar boxes for my artichokes. I am cold. I want to feel the sun on my face. I want to take off my hoodie. I want to put my tomatoes out in the sun. I did not plan on it being this wet and cold and cloudy at this time of year. I can't set my tomatoes out in the sun because there is no sun. I don't have enough grow light space for everything.

We gona have 32 degree nights for several days. BURRRR
About to repurpose the old plastic teepee to cover my mater bed.

I did the hinge top how2 but have decided to call it a "flip top"

30 predicted here for tonight and 29 for tomorrow night. Got all my new seedlings covered and all my transplants in waiting will stay inside until Good Friday in which it looks like things will be improving.

March 25 in the Sunny South, and it is 35 degrees with snow flurries! We could even receive measurable snow tonight.

I wish we could go back to "global warming" weather, like 4 years ago when we had to run AC in January and February.

Now, mark my words. After a couple days of this crap, it will be 80 with thunderstorms, and thousands will get sick again.

As for all my brothers and sisters that posted about this above, I feel for all of you. Growing our own food is a dedication and labor of love, and we do not need the headache of one stinking night below freezing to mess it all up.

I have enough blankets to cover, and I will be out there watering everything tonight to deter frost. On the bright side, when I catch pneumonia, I will be able to stay in bed and check in on this forum more often.

As for honeysuckle, it is more invasive here than kudzu. You think you have uprooted it, and it laughs in your face. We have it growing in the edges of our driveway, and I cannot uproot it.

When it blooms, my nose thinks the nostrils have been concreted shut.

It's times like these, where I daydream about having some nice desert property off Route 66 northeast of Kingman, Arizona. There's this nice little hidden town called, Peach Springs, where I remember breathing like I had an oxygen mask on my face.