The signs of fall have rapidly settled upon us in recent days. On the eve of our traditional first frost date, we figure it might be helpful to talk about what to expect and how we think.
If you’ve been with us awhile, you’ve likely observed that we talk a lot about first and last frost dates. Even our name “Frosty Garden” reflects frost and its significant influence on northern gardening. We use these dates heavily in both our garden planning and harvesting strategy. Basically, these are the “average” days where you will receive frosts.
Ultimately, though, these dates are an average and not an absolute. Sometimes frosts come sooner, sometimes later. They could come tomorrow or two weeks from now. And there’s simply no good way to know what will happen, other than watching the weather. We’re typically looking for dips into the low 30’s, overnight, to bring frost upon us.
One of the things we do around this time is stop (or at least significantly reduce) watering our plants. Ground moisture is the number one contributor to frosts. It’s obviously still possible for rainfall to contribute to frosts, but we don’t want to add to the problem. Only a severe drought brings us to watering this late in the season.
As we’ve discussed, harvesting out everything is now our highest priority. Soon, temperatures will not be all that supportive of gardening. We do typically prioritize plants that aren’t frost tolerant and then deal with plants that are. But, there’s no precise order…just a goal of finishing out the garden.
Once our first frost occurs, at least where we are at, we don’t have much time left before temps really start to dip. Typically two weeks, sometimes three. What we’re concerned about are hard frosts, basically temperatures that can outright freeze our plants. Even cold hardy plants can only take so much of this. So, there’s not much time for dilly dallying.
Also, the further we get away from our “typical” first frost date without an “actual” frost, the more and more likely it becomes. In seasons where we get very late frosts, the likelihood of a sudden and rapid decent into winter is high. Our read on this season is that snowfall is likely to be sooner than usual this season. We could be wrong, of course, but it certainly “feels” this way.
It’s sad that our gardening season is coming to an end soon, but we are looking forward to some rest. These Alaskan summers certainly can push us pretty hard. Pretty much every day, we’re in a mad dash to get it all done. It’s going to be nice to take a breather, sit by a toasty fire and enjoy all the fruits of our labor!
