FFD 2024

Last night was cold. We woke up to a chilly house (we don’t use the furnace or AC if the weather is moderate). I go outside briefly many mornings to check on what I can in the dark, and though it was very dark I thought I spotted frost out in the lawn. I came back outside when it was quite light outside and saw that my doubted suspicion was quite true.

The first frost date is October 1st, 2024. That seems to me to be a pretty early one. I couldn’t cite the last 1, 2 or 3 of them, though. It was almost 95 Degrees Fahrenheit two days ago, and now frost. Who was prepared? Who was ready? I wasn’t. Really, I think that a cover should go onto the plants as soon as daytime temperatures are no longer consistently sweltering.

If you apply shade cloth near the Autumn Solstice, you shouldn’t have to remove it too many times for sweltering heat. The sweltering temperatures only happen for a few hours toward the mid to late afternoon. Plants cool off quickly due to the lowered position of the sun and early dark times. If you have the cover on, you won’t have to worry nearly as much (or most times at all) of random early and sudden frosts around the start of Autumn.

I haven’t covered anything. It is certainly possible to have many types of plants under cover right now (Alliums, Lettuce and ColdGreens, Perennial Herbs, Beets, Carrots) we only will be overwintering our Perennial Herbs and some Leeks (and of course our young trees).

Cover can also help extend your WarmCrops’ production for up to several weeks.

Happy FFD.