Late Season Cold Snap

The last frost for my area averages around May 10th.  Using this date I plan when to plant various crops.  I plant the cold hardy crops a few weeks before this date, and plant the heat loving crops anytime after this date.  This year proved that even the last frost date for an area is still only an average.

The weather had been staying fairly warm for the past several weeks, though we have had our fair share of wind.  I had been checking the weather and it called for temps above freezing for all the days leading up to the last frost date so I took the liberty of planting a few crops a little early in an attempt to get a head start on the season.  I planted the corn and beans about 2 weeks before the frost date and the squash and cucumbers the week after that.  I was happy to see that the corn and beans wasted no time in coming up, but then the weather took an unexpected turn.  The forecast changed to snow/sleet/hail and rain with temps hovering in the 40s during the day and dipping into the upper 20s overnight.  I was going to have to cover my tender young crops and hope for the best.

Luckily I had salvaged the plastic that I used on my low hoop tunnels and used them to cover sections of the garden that needed protection.  They were just long enough to cover the longer beds where the corn and potatoes were growing and I used a couple of them to cover several of the shorter beds in the middle of the garden.

I am happy that I waited until the frost date to plant my summer squash, watermelons and cucumbers. They are under a mulch layer and haven't come up yet, so I didn't have to worry about losing the young seedlings.

We had about an inch of heavy wet snow two nights ago and am still expecting a freeze tonight, so the plastic will be staying on the garden for at least one more night.  I peeked under the cover on the corn and beans and so far everything that had come up seems to be alright, if just a little smashed.  The potatoes seem to have fared alright as well, though I expect to see some frost damage on the outer leaves.  The lettuce that have sprouted are reveling in the protection and cooler weather and have thrived despite the snow.  Soon it will be time to plant the next row in this bed and fill the garden in just a little bit more.

The long rows at the front of the yard were too long to use my plastic sheeting on, so I used more grass clippings to cover the winter squash that had come up along with the amaranth that was planted here.  I intended to mulch these beds anyways, so this just forced this job to get done in a hurry.  I didn't bother to clear the mulch away from the plants as I want it to act as a blanket for a few days.  Once the weather gets nice again, I will go down the row and uncover the seedlings underneath the mulch.  Time was short and the temps were dropping fast while the work was getting done, so I decided to leave the sunflowers uncovered.  They would have to fend for themselves, but they seemed to tolerate a few colder nights after they first sprouted several weeks ago, so I am hoping they can make it too.  If not, I still have plenty of seeds to plant in those rows if I need to.