No soft about it: the weather has shifted, and last night it went right down to 28° F. That means the end of our beautiful solanaceae element. Peppers, tomatoes, eggplant, they all have a sad look about them. And any amaranth still in the beds took a very ugly turn when they thawed out. Similarly the buckwheat.
Luckily we saw it coming, and got the sorghum out last week. Our favorite variety is Dale, which produces both seed and syrup. The seed can go through any freeze, but the sap goes through a chemical shift after frosts and becomes much less palatable. So we always want to make sure we harvest the sorghum and run it through the press with time to spare.
The millet seems to have passed through alright this once, and the corn is as happy and dying as ever it is this time of year. Our little baby rye and wheat plants love this kind of thing, so if they make it past the birds and rodents they will get big and strong despite the winter.
And the heater turned on in the house last night... Looks like Fall!
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We have not had a frost here yet, but it could happen any day now. So is it a good idea to yank out the tomato plants, full of tomatoes, and hang the plants in a cool (garage) environment a good idea? Is this action taking the fear of frost to far? Will they really ripen on a vine in the garage suspended from mid air? One of my three new housemates is trying to convince me this is a good idea.
ReplyDeleteHey up there! New housemates? I can't wait to hear!
ReplyDeleteI don't think I'd bother hanging them upside down, though it might be an interesting conversation piece. What we did last year when the frost caught us in full production was to pull off all the green tomatoes, put them in between layers of paper bags, and check through them periodically. Some of them will go bad, but most of them will turn red (though the seed inside probably won't mature, and they will have the texture of hothouse tomatoes).
On the other hand, there are all kinds of great recipes for green tomatoes.
I wouldn't preemptively pull the plants, because unless it ends up being a deep frost the fruit won't be damaged.
By the way, our apprentices still have watermelons in the bed, cause they've been devotedly covering them every night to keep in the warmth...
That is what the rest of us thought. We just planted onions and garlic sets. Wow watermelons. Yesterday I PICKED and ATE a strawberry. Sigh.
ReplyDeleteIt was great to spend that first frost night with you all. And now to catch up a little on your blog. It is truly AMAZING!!I hope the Ukiah Garden class went well yesterday. I learned lots about corn pollination- thanks!
ReplyDeleteKeep up the good work!
Every time I talk with my sis we seem to be experiencing the same weather as you guys. (Although our night-time dips are more severe.) I was sad to say so-long to the tomato season. I hurried to turn the last of my basil into pesto; and we ate bell peppers for a week straight. (That was my favorite thing to grow - they're so gorgeous!) I can't wait to expand from containers into actual land! (And get a greenhouse up for winter production.)
ReplyDeleteThe funny thing is that, up at the EA site, they haven't had a frost yet. Their fig tree is still full of fruit, while our little ones had their leaves frozen off...
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