Frost Tonight?
National Weather Service says we're due for a cold night tonight: 36 degrees. Here in the bowl of the valley, we often get temperatures five degrees or more colder than what they predict. Will we have frost tonight?
This would be unusually early for frost. I'd hoped for three more weeks. But we also had an unusually late frost, the second week of June. And the summer hasn't been nearly as hot as other recent summers— we never even plugged in our swamp cooler.
Frost would mean the end of our (still-too-small) tomatoes, as well as the peppers and beans that are just beginning to produce. We've eaten most of the beets, and the spinach, peapods, turnips and broccoli won't be affected. But we tried cape gooseberries and ground cherries this year, both fruits in the tomatillo family, and they're just beginning to produce— and extremely frost-sensitive. I guess tomorrow morning we'll see whether a short summer is over.
DJ, try throwing bubble wrap or a blanket and tarp over your tomatoes -- that will keep them from frostbite to an extent. Worked for me on frost nights in CT. Then take the blanket & tarp off tomorrow after the temp goes above freezing. Doing this will extend your season (if lucky) about 2-3 weeks.
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