Monday, May 16, 2016

A scare with the cold...

An unexpected cold snap in May!

Last night called for frost and that put everyone on edge at the farm. So many varieties of vegetables have been planted in the fields already this season. HG and the team have planted tomatoes, eggplant, peas, squash, green beans and corn in the fields thus far this season.

Young pea plants in the field

A frost could mean significant lose due to frost damage. It doesn't take much cold to kill a plant depending on it's hardiness. Most of the early vegetables that we've planted aren't hardy plants. They're also still young so don't have much strength to fight against the cold. It isn't so much the cold temperatures but frost that causes the most irreversible damage. Frost is actually what can damage the plants. A light frost, like we had last night, doesn't cause as much detrimental damage as a hard frost. HG and the team took to protecting the precious vegetables in the fields. Last night they were out covering the crops with row cover to help insulate and keep the plants warmer then the outside air temp. A few degrees could make or break the harvest potential of the crops. The row cover helps keep the temperature up a few degrees to protect the plants.

Row covers on the plants in the field to protect them

Since we're talking about all these delicious vegetables, we might as well mention the CSA as well. We are still accepting enrollments in the CSA until June 1st! The CSA is a great way to plan your meals around the surprises in your share of the week. Email us at siwveggies@gmail.com for more information!

Tomato plants with blossoms





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