Help! Frost! I'm clueless

[laundry_queen]

First of all, frost in JUNE - WTF!

Okay, what do I do? I don't have any covers for all of it. My mom used to use old bedsheets but I have none. I can bring in my container plants, but obviously not the other stuff. What can handle frost? I have bulb onions, zucchini, carrots, radishes, cucumbers, lettuce, multiplier onions and swiss chard. Most of it is still really small but the bulb onions have grown 2 inches in the last 2 days so they are the tallest plant in the garden that I have (I'd say 4-5 inches). It's already dark out (thanks Environment Canada for being on the ball yet again!). ugh. You think everything should be fine in a raised bed? I have no idea if our backyard is particularly prone to frost or not, but we are lower than the row of houses behind us (we back onto a green space, then there is a hill and houses up higher on that hill). crap!

[Leme]

1. my guess...no problem

[laundry_queen]

3. I hope you're right.

I can't believe they put out the warning at 10:30 pm. Really, EC? Ugh, EC is about 50 years behind US weather forecasting.

I feel like there's not much I can do...Just going to have to hope it's all okay I guess. Thankfully my backyard faces east and gets the first bit of sun in the morning.

[elleng]

2. Smudge pot

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smudge_pot

Not sure for you, but I suspect if its a one night thing, it won't be a big deal, especially for carrots (and maybe radishes.)

[laundry_queen]

4. That looks like a good idea for an orchard

I'll remember that when I get my fruit trees.

I hope you're right that it's not a big deal. So far that's the consensus, so I'm crossing my fingers.

[jtuck004]

5. Onions won't have a problem, most grow right through winter. The lighter stuff might,

and you could put a piece plastic, like Visqueen - comes in rolls, can see through it - over the smaller, light stuff.

Water it well, then put plastic over it. That will hold the heat in (it's probably too late to water now, but for future reference).

Didn't see tomatoes or peppers on the list, those would be the ones I am most concerned about. The cucs, perhaps, and maybe lettuce. The rest will probably be fine if it is just overnight.

[laundry_queen]

6. I found a small piece of landscaping fabric

that my dad left behind. Enough to cover the cucumbers, chard, multipliers and some of the lettuce. Brought in the peppers. I put the tomatoes and the pot of herbs close to the house, facing east to get first light in the morning (sunrise is pretty early here, so hopefully they get warm before any damage). They are on the deck, so quite elevated, so hopefully they won't get hit. Crossing my fingers that the house overhang is enough to protect them.

[jtuck004]

7. It sounds like the best you can do with what you have, which is good <G>.

When we first moved to Spokane from Oklahoma City I set tomatoes and peppers out too early, and a June 1 frost knocked them all down. Brown, shriveled... they went in the compost pile and we planted new ones.

We were handing out tomatoes left and right when all of it came roaring back at us. The ones in the compost pile did really well. Those were new beds back then and they are mostly made up of that compost today.

I'm very glad I can garden and don't have to farm. I'm sure it would kill me.

[laundry_queen]

8. HAHA that made me smile

I can see it now - everything growing out of the compost pile.

I know what you mean...I'm more nervous than I would be when it was more of a hobby(pre-divorce) - I mean it still is, but I'm a bit broke (single parent, f/t student) and I was hoping we'd get some cheap food. My dad was nice enough to build the boxes and fill them for free (my parents are well off) and I planted nearly everything from seed, unlike last year, hoping to save more money. If it all dies, I'll be pretty upset for a bit. I know it's not a lot of food, and I'll be able to replant with some left over seeds, but still...produce is expensive here. Even though I spent a lot of money on larger plants last year, I still came out ahead when I added everything up. Anyway. I'm just going to not think about it. I'll find out how everything fared in the morning...

[laundry_queen]

9. Well, it looks like everything is ok

all that panic for nothing. It didn't get to freezing last night, I was up early and saw no frost, and I looked at the overnight temps and it didn't quite hit 0 (Celsius) All the plants look fine. Phew!

[Curmudgeoness]

10. Next time you have this issue

with a frost that will most likely be of short duration, go out after dark and water down all your plants that you are worried about. Frost doesn't form on wet plants.

[laundry_queen]

11. Thanks for that, I will keep it in mind. nt