Monday, May 10, 2010

Frosty freezies

Boy am I glad I covered my tender little plants last night. We did indeed have a freeze. In my community garden plot we covered 24 little plants with large, plastic party cups. When I went to remove them this morning, I surveyed the few other plots which had already been planted by other gardeners. It's sad to report that those plants were badly frost damaged and I don't think they'll make it.

My tomatoes and peppers and basil are all fine. Those little plastic cups did the trick. I'll have to cover them again this evening - there may be another frost.

I guess I have an advantage in living so close to the community gardens. They're literally a three minute walk away, so I don't have to hop in the car and drive anywhere. It's easy to pop over there to water, or cover things against a frost.

4 comments:

joco said...

Rather than 24 individual cups which can blow all over the place, what about horticultural fleece?
Like a huge lightweight tablecloth specially designed for such emergencies.

ICQB said...

Hi Jo!

I do have something similar to the fleece, but these cups were infinitely easier in this circumstance. I nestled them into the soil so that they wouldn't blow over. They did the trick and it was so easy!

If the plants were bigger, I'd have gone with the other covering.

Adrienne said...

I've heard it's risky to plant before Mother's Day. I hope all that TLC pays off!

ICQB said...

Hi adrienne!

Last year I planted well after MD. This year, my seedlings were starting to look like they needed to go into the ground NOW, so I pushed my luck.

I think we've had the last of the frosts, knock on wood :-)