22o (Fahrenheit) Monday, the 28th. 23o Tuesday, the 29th. 25o Wednesday, the 30th. And the wind! Terrible! I thought I was going to lose everything.
If I’m going to grow 500 pounds of vegetables this year I have to start early. I had three and a half beds and five 25-gallon containers planted already and I could have cried when I saw the forecast.
The good news is that almost everything made it. The radishes, kale and chard survived under a thick layer of burlap. The broad beans pulled through under plastic sheeting. The kohlrabi, cabbage, broccoli, beets and sugar snap peas weathered the cold under a double layer of row cover and bed sheet. The carrot seedlings (in the same bed as the beets and snap peas) didn’t make it. The poor little things had really just sprouted when the cold spell hit. I’ll replant after a respectable period of mourning.
This Winter Density lettuce survived without any protection at all. Incredible.