February 27, 2017

After having been in Alpine for awhile and had been through a couple of winters, I soon began to realize that gardening year round would be quite doable. Yes we do get some winter zingers but for the most part the cold snaps are short lived and soon we are back into warmer conditions.

Research had shown me that at the 30^th parallel we never get below 10 hours of light and most years the soil 5 inches down never gets cooler than the forties. Most veggie plants go dormant at less than 10 hours of light and cease growth below fifty degrees.

On a typical day it is not unusual to have a 30 to 40 degree change from morning to afternoon.

It can be freezing at sunrise but be very nice by the afternoon. For the most part the morning freezes are not that extreme. They are usually in the mid to upper 20's with an occasional lower twenties and rarer yet in the teens. It is the freezes that get into the teens that really force plants into dormancy. I have not experienced a real growth shut down with freezes in the 20's. Earlier this winter when we had a freeze down to 12 degrees it took several days of warmer weather to get the veggies back into growth.

Growth through the winter is much slower but it is constant. I manage to harvest chard throughout the winter but by the time warmer weather arrives the harvested leaves have diminished in size. None the less there is weekly growth.

The use of agricultural fabric has really helped with the moderation of these freezes. With light freezes it will keep beds from experiencing them. But with the harder freezes down in the teens it will prevent the veggies from dyeing due to the freeze. There are exceptions but most veggies die at 20 degrees unless they are protected. When we had the severe freezes back in 2011 (1.5 degrees) the fabric protected most everything from dyeing. There were individual plants that gave up the ghost but not wholesale death.

February is the magical winter month. The first half can have some real nasty weather (like in 2011), but by the middle and towards the end of the month there is warmer weather with longer days. By the 18^th of February visible light is 12 hours.

From the middle of February until the last freeze (most years the middle of April but there has been a few early May ones too), the soil is gaining in warmth and there is also a diminishing number of freezes. This is where the fabric really pays for itself. It can really harvest the day time warmth and release it to the plants at night.

Most all of my beds are covered with just 2 layers of Agribon 19 (4 degrees protection per layer) with some beds where I have Agribon 70 (8 degrees per layer) in waiting for the to be expected spring zingers.

As noted above the sunlight and temperature steadily rise form the middle of February and the freezes begin to diminish. With the use of fabric planting Solanaceae (tomatoes, peppers, eggplant) becomes quite doable. Most years the first toms go in by the middle of February with the remainder of the summer veggies going in by the first week of March.

At this point It must be said when planting out of accepted norms, the gardener MUST be willing to loose everything only to start over. If they are not able to do this then it would be best to start a garden later. Our climate is mild enough that I have done this for over 10 years. As long as I do not do something stupid, success is just about a given.

Yes it is very important to watch weather forecasts so that cold snaps do not catch one by surprise. I very much like to watch for the nightly low. In the spring when our humidity is very low we can be very prone to convection freezes. These happen when it is dead still at dawn with a cloudless night and the forecast lows are in the upper 30's. There has been frost observed in the garden even with lows in the 40's. It is these lows that I watch for and the night before add extra covers for the most sensitive plants. With convection freezes just a blanket laying over the plants is all that is needed.

There is another kind of freeze that needs to be watched for that has great potential to do damage. This is when a continental air mass moves in. ( this usually happens with Our usual Easter hissy fit). Extra security is needed The fabric HAS TO BE well secured to the ground. This is to prevent the cold from creeping into the bed. I frequently notice in my beds after such a cold spell where the fabric was not well secured.

One might say why go through all this effort? Don't we have a long enough season?

As for the effort, a pass down any veggie isle at a local grocery is motivation enough. We do have a nice long season but I really like fresh tomatoes and chilies too.

There are some other reasons too!! It is nice to have well rooted plants going into May and June when we can usually expect hot dry weather. Deep roots are easier to water than a 6 inch seedling. Probably one big reason for me is because I have root knot nematodes and planting earl allows me to beat them before they become active. Early planting along with other control measures ensures that I get a harvest. But mostly I like the challenge, it is a gamble with better odds than the Lottery!!

Happy gardening!!!