The Growing Season Has Ended?

As per the statement from the National Weather Service...

"The growing season has ended for parts of northeast NJ southeast NY and southern CT...

For western Passaic County NJ... Orange Putnam and northern Westchester counties in NY and interior portions of Fairfield New Haven Middlesex and New London counties in CT... the average date of the first freeze is October 10.

As of today... November 1... most of these areas experienced freezing temperatures and most fruit and crops have been harvested.

Based on this information... the National Weather Service frost and freeze program for these areas has been canceled and will resume during our next growing season in the Spring.

Note that frost advisories and freeze watches and warnings will continue to be issued for coastal CT... Rockland and southern Westchester counties... New York City... Long Island and the remainder of northeast NJ until their growing season ends."

Well, just like they say, not for us here on the coast. It is the coolest morning of the autumn thus far at 38 degrees when I woke. I haven't been to the beach farm in 9 days. Our cut off date is November first, today. I'm feeling like I should let it go, to recharge, to accomplish other things. On the other hand, if those greens and peas will grow on their own, I ain't gonna stop em. We're not anywhere near our first hard freeze on the beach. What's it like in your yard or roof?

New York State Frost Dates

If you are wondering "when is that last or first frost date here in NYC," below are two maps,  courtesy of the wonderful people at Cornell University, of first and last frost dates of the New York State season. These frost dates are "roundabout," so it is always wise to follow the weather when thinking of planting tender plants or deciding whether or not to harvest those last few tomatoes. Any given year we can push or pull these frost dates. Looking at those dates tells me we in NYC are very lucky indeed.

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Please Don't Freeze The Peas

Will it really freeze to 25 degrees F tomorrow night? Will the Sugar Ann Snap Peas hold up to this despicable, lone, one night, monstrous temperature drop? Shall I protect them with plastic sheets or leave them be? Oh, peas, you cause me such pains before I've even eaten you!

Oh, yes, I see the quince buds a swellin at the north end of Cadman Plaza Park. And the winter jasmine's pre-forsythia yellow blooming too.

Warm Weekend Coming

The tipping point is near. The snow will melt, save a few dark pockets here and there -a memory, a reminder of what has passed. I will put out my pea shoots, now almost 10 inches tall, and my broccoli starts will go out too. The tomatoes have been seeded and are in their window.

I think it will be too warm to place the starts in the cold-frame, they would fry in there. The starts will live on the ground and it should be warm enough for them to overnight outside. I'll be away at the flower show in Philly, that gaudy celebration of the winter's end and the coming of spring. I'll report back. 

How I Made My Cold Frame

Below are pictures of the cold frame I made. I have a table saw at work, so this made the job easier than if I had to make it at home. But cold frames can be made from a variety of things, like stacked bricks or cement blocks with an old glass window on top. If you are making it out of wood, you could just jigsaw (or even hand saw) some plywood into a similar pattern and throw a piece of plexiglass (or even plastic sheeting) on top.

The pattern can be as simple as a rectilinear box, but I sloped mine so I could let more sun into the box and allow rain or snow-melt to run off the lid. Yours could be set onto or into the ground. I will raise mine a few inches with some screw-on wooden legs because I do not want to smash any underlying plants (upcoming bulbs, particularly).

My cold-frame has quite a small footprint at roughly 28 x 18 inches, but they can be much larger and taller. I designed mine for a city gardener, someone with a small garden and not too many plants to start.

I used scrap wood left from student projects at work. This wood is primed, finger-jointed 5/4 pine. It is 1 and 1/16-inch deep by 5 and 1/4-inch wide. In order to get the height that I wanted, I used a dado to rabbet-joint and glue two pieces together, making for a 10-inch wide board. This gave me a maximum height of 10 inches for the rear plank. The side planks are cut on a diagonal, sloping from 10 inches down to 8 in height. I bevel-cut the top of the rear plank to accommodate the slope of the side planks.

I cut rabbet joints at the four corners to more securely hold the four sides and to help keep out cold air.

I cut the front plank at 4 inches high, leaving another 4 inches for a piece of polycarbonate glazing. I dado cut a groove into the top of this front piece to snugly hold the glazing. After that, I bevel-cut the top of the front piece at 30 degrees to help shed any water.

This view points to the inside-bottom of the cold-frame. I rabbet-cut the bottom to accommodate planking that will be the floor. Exterior water will shed without contacting the interior floor planks with this set-up. However, if you set yours on or into the ground, floor planking isn't necessary.

These views show the polycarbonate glazing on the front. I used glazing here to increase the amount of light reaching the plants inside. You can see how it is held tightly within the groove on the front plank. I cut the glazing 1/4 -inch taller between the side planks so that the roof-glazing would make contact with it.

The roof glazing is a sheet of double-walled polycarbonate set into a dado-cut groove in the wooden frame. The rear of the glazing-frame can be seen below resting on the back planking. Out-door hinges will attach the roof glazing frame to the cold-frame.

This is the cold-frame with the roof glazing on. I left the plastic film on the glazing so that I know which side goes out.

This is a close-up of the roof and front panel glazing. The glazing is held snug in the dado-cut grooves in the wooden frame. The roof glazing overshoots the front plank by 1/2 -inch so that rain drips beyond the frame.

For now, I will use a stick to prop open the cold-frame for venting.

The joints will all be set with waterproof wood glue and out-door quality screws. I will paint the cold-frame to protect it from weather and sun damage. If I had made this out of cedar or redwood I would not bother, but this finger-jointed pine is really meant for interior applications. But with a good couple of coats of paint, it should last long enough. I have some old black barbecue paint that I think will do for the outside. The inside I'll paint with glossy white house paint. The idea is to not spend any money, or more than I have to. The polycarbonate cost 30 dollars at Canal Plastics, and that's about what this whole project is worth to me.

I see that I could buy a really nice one at Johnny's for $325 plus shipping. Maybe in better times. I could also add an automatic roof opener (I actually have a couple of these, but they're in Minnesota, I think). These openers are often wax-filled cylinders. The wax expands as it heats up and pushes a bar which opens your roof. The roof needs to be lightweight for this and the polycarbonate fits the bill.

Tom Chrisptopher at Green Perspectives has some good points on the use of a cold-frame. The kind he describes is much larger, and I like his idea of using the removable-pin hinges as a way of connecting the side planks. His point about "managing" the opening and closing of the roof is well taken. I want to experiment to see how it goes, but will get the auto-open cylinder if it becomes too much hassle.

Real Freeze Coming this Week

Button up your tender plants, this seems to be the real deal. I got some broccoli trying so hard to grow in its three hours of dim sunlight each day that I think will make it through. I intended the make a plastic cover for it, but no time, or no plastic, or both. 

Meanwhile the sunflowers, salvia elegans, asters, goldenrod, roses, and chrysanthemums that still bloom daily will take a good hit. My guess is they won't all succumb, but the pineapple sage may.

The bright side: the end of those pesky tiger mosquitoes. Must still be a problem for some, because I get a steady stream of hits regarding those. So good riddance. 

I guess I am ready for the end, though it comes a little earlier this year than recent past. I need to clean out the garden and remove the too many plants I do have. Although this may have to wait for spring as it seems a bit late for a giveaway.

The San Marzano and German Stripe tomatoes are still putting out flowers despite the two hours of sun a day they get. I am tempted to clip a few branches to over winter, but alas I think it will be a failure knowing full well my lack of attention to indoor plants. They are still so brilliant green out there, so it will be a shame to see them succumb to the freeze.

My spinach was a failure. Two leaves on most, some bolted prematurely. Miserable level of achievement there. Say goodbye to the basil, oh you'll be missed. Hang on parsley, Thanksgiving is coming and I need you still. 

My camera has died and this has left me without photographic motivation. By some good fortune I happened upon the Canon website and noticed my camera was covered by some defect policy. Hooray now that I am getting it fixed for free even though it is over four years old. But without the pictures, posts are harder, wordy even, and further in between.

Well, it was a good growing year. Next will be different; better? How, I do not know yet, but I'll let winter sow its yearnings. This is also the end of my first full blogging/growing season. An anniversary of sorts. More to come I hope. Happy freezing!

Spring and Fall Frost Date

If you were wondering "when is that last frost date here in NYC," below are two maps of first and last frost dates of the New York State season, courtesy of the wonderful people at Cornell University. These frost dates are "roundabout," so it is always wise to follow the weather when thinking of planting tender plants or deciding whether or not to harvest those last few tomatoes. Any given year we can push or pull these frost dates. But looking at those NYC dates tells me we in the city are very lucky indeed.

Click on the map for a larger view

Tis the Season

Well early this morning did it, finally we had a freeze. In my neck of the woods, we hit around 28 degrees Fahrenheit. Now we could argue about shades of gray, hard freeze or not. I'd say then we had a soft freeze. Cold enough to wilt and blacken the more tender annuals. Not cold enough long enough to set back the flowering perennials much.

The difference between a frost and a freeze? Well a freeze is much easier to define: when the temperature drops below 32 degrees F for a sustained period of time. This often happens during the early morning hours at this time of year, after much of the heat the city has accumulated radiates out into the night sky. Freezes tend to come on clear, still nights. Clear allows much heat to radiate upwards, still allows this process to continue unfettered. Clear and still also indicates cold and dry near winter time. Dry, meaning low moisture content in the air, allows the air to cool off even faster because water vapor retains heat. So at this time of year, after a cold front passes, the wind dies down, and the skies clear we have a greater chance of a freeze. Freezes will kill most annuals, so many of which are tropical in origin. Freezes may kill native annuals, but often it takes a hard freeze. Perennial leaves will blacken and die depending on the length and depth of the freeze.

Frost is a phenomena dependent on a variety of factors. When the temperature drops to freezing, usually in the dark, early morning hours, and the moisture content of the air happens to be high, we may have a frost. Frosts involve the coalescence of dew point and temperature. The frost can occur at a range of freezing temperatures, but the frosted surface must be colder than the dew point, the dew point colder than the air temperature, and the dew point must be below freezing. Simply put, frost is water vapor that condenses directly into a solid (ice) on things like plants, cars, and ground whose surface temperature is colder than the dew point. Frosts occur most frequently where there is little to no wind.

In spring we worry about late season frosts, which could take down tender young plants. In autumn, we usually accept the fate of our plants after the long season. However, if it is vegetables you want to protect in spring or fall, simple row covers of plastic or even soda bottles filled with water may do the trick. Both these devices hold heat and lessen the chance for frost on an extremely local level. I've grown broccoli under a clear plastic tent for weeks in freezing temps until they were ready for harvest. While broccoli tends toward cold hardiness, most plants can't be protected from a long, hard freeze. It is then time to let go.

This frost formed one December before dawn and was gone by 9 am