From the Gardens Registrar: The “F” Word; How to Protect Your Plants, and Which Ones to Protect; Leaf Mulch and Compost Coming to EH Soon; Workdays

Hello Gardeners,

FIRST FROST – Despite the recent heatwave, we are now at the end of September, and it’s time to start thinking about the inevitable plunging of temperatures. Once we get into October, frost becomes increasingly likely, and we will probably have our first one of the season around the middle of the month. Most often, the first frosts are light. If you cover your cold-sensitive plants, they’ll probably survive. Nevertheless, you should plan to harvest the last of your peppers, tomatoes, and eggplants soon. If you have cherry tomatoes, you can pull up the whole plant, and hang it up inside to let the fruits ripen. If you have small-fruited hot peppers that have turned red, you can also pull up the plant, and hang it up inside until the peppers have dried. They’ll keep for years, and even stay hot if you keep them in closed containers.

HOW TO PROTECT YOUR PLANTS FROM LIGHT FROST – A light fabric covering can really save your plants when there’s only a few degrees of frost. Sheets and old blankets are traditional. Cardboard boxes work too. You can also buy fancy plant protectors from garden centers, but the home remedies are just as good until it gets seriously cold. You should cover the plants in the evening so that they’ll retain some of the warmth of the day, but it’s best then to take off the coverings once the sun comes out the next morning, so they don’t get too warm. Start watching the weather forecasts carefully, and be ready to take action when frost threatens. By the way, frost tends to settle, so those of us in the lower parts of the gardens will probably get frost before the gardeners up on the hill do. 

WHICH VEGETABLES ARE MOST SENSITIVE TO FROST? The plants that we’ll probably lose first include: beans, cucumbers, melons, eggplants, peppers, basil, and both summer and winter squash. (With winter squash, the plant is sensitive, but the fruits can survive a few light frosts, though that will affect their keeping qualities.)

WHICH VEGETABLES WILL SURVIVE FROSTS? Peas, cabbages (including broccoli, Brussels sprouts, kale, etc.), spinach, lettuce, onions, radishes, parsley, chard, and root crops can withstand some frost. Kale and some of the other greens taste better after a frost. If you mulch these crops heavily, some of them will keep producing almost until the ground freezes.

WHEN WILL EAGLE HEIGHTS GET MORE LEAF MULCH? The Village of Shorewood Hills has  already begun their leaf collection, so we should start seeing leaves for mulch soon at EH. These will be fresh leaves, though, not half-composted like the ones we started out with this spring. They’ll still be excellent for protecting crops from frost, or for leaving on your garden to protect and nurture the soil over the winter. Also, we still have some compost from the West Ag Station, and we’ll hold another compost sale in October, in time for putting your garden to bed for the winter. I’ll let people know when a date has been set.

WORKDAYS – I’ve already sent out a notice about tomorrow’s workday (Thursday, September 28) at University Houses Gardens (at the end of Haight Road), 4pm – 7pm. The task will be continuing to cover the paths with wood chips. In case you missed it, here’s the link to sign up: https://doodle.com/poll/b6n9z4nkzyxqwpdc

We’ll also have a workday on Sunday morning, (October 1) also at University Houses Gardens, from 8am – 11am. The task will be completing the path work, and then cleaning and clearing the fruit tree area. Here’s the link for the Sunday morning workday: https://doodle.com/poll/f37m5spcugnimxhm

Happy Gardening,

Kathryn