October 19, 2009

First Frost

First frost, right on scheduleWe woke up this morning to our first frost, but I was prepared. I used to get frost warnings from the TV weather forecasters, but we didn't make the switch to digital, so I've had to rely on the internet. Happily, I have Forecastfox installed on my web browser and it popped up an alert yesterday evening, enabling me to pick the last of my tomatoes...

Hopefully these tomatoes will ripen just fine... and cover my green pepper plant...

2 sheet frost coverThere are still some little peppers as well as flowers on the plant. Not sure how well these will actually do, but I thought I'd try to give them a chance.

In the morning, the fall garden tolerated the frost with no problems, but the leaves of the okra, tomatoes, and green beans were all frozen. The green pepper?

Green pepper plant survived with helpThe top sheet had a layer of frost on it, but the plant did just fine. We have a forecast for the low 70s by the middle of the week so, who knows? It just might give these guys a chance to grow a little bit more.

First Frost photos & text copyright October 2009 

9 comments:

Renee Nefe said...

I should take some pictures of my tomatoes and the garden...most of the garden is dead...carrots, parsley & strawberries are still living though.

I really need to figure out how to beat the weather.

Life Looms Large said...

Wow - I can't believe you had your first frost so close to ours since you're much farther south. We did have a wee bit of snow yesterday....it didn't stick, and it made me take a nap because I could stand to look out and see both snow and rain falling at the same time. Kind of gloomy!

Today it's sunny and warmer again - so we'll try to stretch out fall a little longer I hope!

Sue

Anonymous said...

I am glad we have left our winter behind, our cold seeps into your bones, ugh!

Having said that, I am not looking forward to our summer with mid to high 45+C temps either, hibernation here I come LOL!

Leigh said...

Renee, you should! And if you can figure out how to beat the weather, please let me know! I need to figure that out too.

Sue, we aren't in the deep south so that may be part of it. Also, the Appalachian Mountains affect our weather quite a bit. We're on the edge of the foothills so even though we have long hot summers, September always brings a break in the weather and first frost is usually in October.

Molly, I enjoy seeing spring activities on your blog. It's one of the great things about the internet.

Julie said...

Can you believe how fast time go's by. Wasn't it just spring yesterday!!!!

Stay Warm!

Woolly Bits said...

we haven't had frost yet - nasturtiums are the best indicator here for me:)) they are still rampaging away in brilliant colours. I am going to try to overwinter my chilis now, because I read in a german gardening mag. that they can be overwintered at 10 deg. C! I'll try to keep them in the glasshouse where there's never frost and as much light as we're going to have during winter! I also have a small fleece tunnel that I put over some plants inside the polytunnel during winter. that usually keeps the worst of the frost away.

bspinner said...

I'll bet your new woodburner feels good right now.
So far we haven't had a hard frost but the day we left Rhinebeck, New York the ground was white.

Heather said...

We've had some good hard frosts and now all my plants are done. I ripped out and composted my tomato plants on the weekend. At our old place (lower down) I would cover my tomatoes and peppers for quite a long time to give them extra time to ripen, always worth a try, I think. My youngest son dug up his tomato plant, potted it up and brought it into the kitchen a few weeks back when we were first getting frost. It has four tomatoes on it now and looks to be doing well. :-)

Leigh said...

Julie, you are so right! Sometimes I can't believe it.

Bettina, I love nasturtiums! I think our summers get too hot for them though. What an excellent idea a fleece tunnel is. I could make one of those from my stash. I would love to have a greenhouse too; it's on our master plan for the future.

Barb, you got that right! Hopefully the hard freezes will hold off a bit more here. I was amazed when I saw your Rhinebeck pix on your blog. Amazed at the snow!

Heather, your son had a good idea, I hope his tomato prospers. I went ahead and pulled out all my tomato plants except the healthiest, which still has flowers and tiny toms. And the okra defrosted without much damage. Who knows? We're having a mild spell now, so I may get a little more summer harvest yet.