COLD!

Overnight temps dropped to -5C last night. The forecast was for -3C so I made sure to cover my precious tomatoes. This morning when I got up it was -5C !! After it warmed up a bit, I uncovered them. A few leaves have turned black but for the most part they are okay. I am trying to leave them out as long as possible as there are lots that are ripening up beautifully so the extra days on the vine will help. There is no frost in the forecast but lots of cloud and rain for the next week so maybe I can get away without harvesting them just yet.

The strawberries and radishes both had frost on them but now that the sun is shining, they are still looking perky and healthy. Gotta admire them but I think I better make those little guys a cover so I can squeeze a few more weeks out of them.

Guess today will be my day to pull the onions and plant a cover crop in the potato patch.

Here are what my roses looked like this morning.






This is a Gene Boerner Floribunda rose. Says on the package it is extremely vigorous. Ya think?

GK

Covered the eggplants and tomatoes last night, it was 34F @ 5:30 this morning. Nice photos OH!

Ooohhhhh! Your temps are getting down there too! We really have to keep an eye on that forecast now.

I am trying to think of something to do for a cover for the strawberry bed without going and buying something. If I can squeak another couple of weeks out I will have a pretty good final crop of berries.

Was reading in my latest Mother Earth News mag (can you tell I am still a hippie at heart? LOL!) that if you paint milk jugs black and fill them with water to tuck into corners of your cold frame or under your hoop covers it gives you a few extra degrees of heat for your plants at night. I have a whole bag of milk jugs that was headed for the recycling depot that I will now re-purpose as "heaters" for my cold frame and tomato bed.

It gives me such a kick to push the growth time a little at each end of the growing season and get an extra couple of weeks here and there.

GK

Wow. I think the low tonight here in TN is going to be 70 and is supposed to be in the 90s all week. I have tried the painted milk jugs and it does help a little. I put 4 - 1 gal. jugs n the corners and several 1/2 gal. jugs around the middle. Good Luck.

OldHippie.....
The air in Canada is a little colder that ours so far.
I love your roses. They are such a great pink. The frost on them hasn't seemed to hurt so I guess they are very hardy.

We've dropped as low at 39F which is 7 degrees above freezing, so we're doing pretty good so far.
I have my heavy frost fabric ready in the workshop if its needed. I still have some tomatoes and cabbages out there and the parsnips will be ok with a few frosts. They sweeten up more.

We've had a wonderful year this year in Maine so I'm not complaining.
I hope for a great one next year as well since I've learned new things that might help me have longer harvests for next year.

Thanks ribarr. I will definitely give it a try. Every few degrees makes a difference. Did you think it was worth the effort? It sounds like that was past tense. Have you not continued using them?

Btw, I checked out your blog and found it very interesting. I have to show it to my husband. We are hoping to try something next year with a couple of chickens. Not sure what the city by-laws are here at the moment about chickens within the city, but we plan on giving it a try, regardless.

GK

Old Hippie wrote:Thanks ribarr. I will definitely give it a try. Every few degrees makes a difference. Did you think it was worth the effort? It sounds like that was past tense. Have you not continued using them?

Btw, I checked out your blog and found it very interesting. I have to show it to my husband. We are hoping to try something next year with a couple of chickens. Not sure what the city by-laws are here at the moment about chickens within the city, but we plan on giving it a try, regardless.

GK

I wound up not using them last year. My two preteens used them for target practice with a bow and arrow so I would have needed to make more. We had a really cold winter, but found out that I really didn't need them this far south. It is amazing how warm they got on a cold sunny day though.

Thanks for the look. Let me know if you want any information about chickens. One of the biggest benefits of having them is the fertilizer they add to the compost pile. If you make their tractor (portable coop) they can also clean and fertilize your beds at the same time.

good luck with the milk jugs.