Month: April 2012

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Winter Came Back to Damage my Tomatoes


Against my better judgement, I set out about half of my tomato plants a few days ago.  The weather has been so unseasonably warm that it’s easy to forget it’s still early April.  The entire winter, in fact, has been so warm many plants I usually treat as annuals lived through the winter.  I chose to ignore my garden records that indicate in 2007 the temperature here dropped to 24 degrees F, and in 2008 a frost occurred on April 15.  Thinking that we were done with frost because most things are a month ahead of schedule, I set out the plants.

Healthy, undamaged tomato plants

Healthy, undamaged pepper plants

 Even while I was working in the garden, clouds formed in the sky and the wind increased.  I checked the weather forecast to see if thunderstorms were expected, and to my dismay, I learned that temperatures in the thirties were expected last night.  I stopped setting out plants.  Although I covered the plants, below is what I found after I removed the plastic sheet.

Frost-damaged tomato plant

This morning at about 7 AM, the thermometer registered 37 degrees F.  In the early morning hours, the temperature was lower, and temperatures below 40 degrees will damage tomato plants.  When I went out to release the chickens from their house, I noticed white frost across some plants.  The cold temperatures caused the blackened, shriveled leaves.  These plants may recover; I will give them a chance before I pull them out, but I doubt it.  Tomatoes are delicate plants.

Another frost-damaged plant

I planted out my Irish potatoes at the proper time, February, and usually expect them to have a some frost damage.  These leaves are not damaged because the upper leaves protected them.

Lower leaves of potato plants are not damaged by frost

The frost damaged the upper leaves of these potato plants.  The potato plants should recover from the damage; they normally get damaged during their early growing period.  As I mentioned above, the garden is about a month ahead of its usual growth rate because of the warm weather, and I don’t remember seeing plants this large with frost damage before.  I believe they will recover, though.

Frost-damaged potato plants

Here is my potato patch, with the tops blackened by frost.  I could not cover them because there are too many plants.

Frost damage visible across the entire potato patch

Next year, no matter how warm the spring is, no matter how many other people are putting out tomato plants, I will not set my tomato plants out until April 15 or so.  That’s two weeks past the average date of last frost, April 1.  Maybe I’ll wait three weeks past the last frost date.  I’ll plant my potatoes at the usual time, February, because they need cool temperatures to grow and will not make a crop during the hot weather they’d experience if I waited until April to plant them; tomatoes need hot weather.

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Weeds Love the Warm Weather Too


It is true confession time. 
I recommend organic gardening methods, and I practice them at home.  Usually, anyway.  I have resorted to killing the weeds in the
lawn with a broadleaf weed killer, and I have used a non-selective chemical
herbicide on some areas where the weeds have just gotten out of control. 


I do not like to use chemicals, but sometimes I find them
necessary to maintain order in the garden. 
This winter, the weeds have been worse than usual because of the mild
weather.  I tried using the chickens as
weed-controllers, and they did a fine job of mowing the weeds and fertilizing
the lawn.  The problem is, if I left them
on the lawn long enough to dig up and remove the weeds, they would also dig up
the sod.  So, along with healthy sod, I
have lovely green patches of extra-healthy weeds where they sojourned. 


I can mow the lawn to control the weeds, but to control the
weeds, it would probably require several mowings of weeds before the actual grass
gets tall enough to mow.  That will cause
pollution from the gasoline engine of the lawnmower that would probably equal
or exceed the pollution caused by the weed killer.


The most environmentally friendly solution would be to
abandon the lawn for a meadow, or to let the weeds grow tall without worrying
about it, or let the chickens mow the lawn constantly.  None of those options suits most people,
including me, although when I no longer have children who need a lawn to play
on, I may reduce its size.  Even if I let
the weeds grow tall, though, they would go to seed, which would spread more
weeds into my garden areas, where they are definitely intolerable.  Maybe I should get a flock of sheep to mow
the lawn…


When I apply the chemicals, I read and follow the directions
carefully.  I make sure I don’t apply too
much, and I don’t put them down just before a rain so they wash away.  I keep children and pets off the lawn for at
least 24 hours after their application.     


Part of my weed problem is due to the very warm winter we’ve
had which has allowed the weeds to grow all winter.  Another reason for my problems is that in
September, we had 100 trees cut, and the sudden absence of both their shade and
the competition from their roots for moisture has allowed long-dormant weeds to
flourish.  I hope my perennial garden,
also free of the competition and shade, will also flourish.  I have neglected some weeding chores in favor
of preparing my newly cleared land for an orchard, and I have not been as
vigilant about getting mulch out as in past years.


I don’t use weed killers on food crops, and I used them only
when I have given up hope of eliminating weeds any other way.  I do not apply them routinely.  I have two giant mountains of mulch from the
trimmings of the 100 trees we cut, and over the past couple of weeks, I have
spread numerous loads of mulch on paths and in flowerbeds.  From my father and from a horse-keeping
neighbor, I have spoiled hay, and I am in the process of covering the garden
with it after I tilled it. 


Next winter, I hope the wood-chip mulch, which I have put
down heavily, will still retard weeds in the paths and flowerbeds into next
winter.  Winter weeds are always my
biggest problem, I think because after working hard all summer I want a break
after the frost comes, and I neglect the garden for a while, long enough for
the winter weeds to become established. 
Weeds are the bane of the gardener’s existence, but in some ways, I am
thankful for their presence because they get me out into the garden, working
and exercising, and noticing all the blossoms and new growth I might otherwise
miss.