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Post by feather on Sept 26, 2019 17:44:28 GMT
South eastern WI, our first frost date is between Oct 3-10th. The long range forecast has us above 32 deg F from now until Oct 10th. Maybe we won't get an early frost. I'm kind of counting on it. We still have peppers, carrots, celery, and lettuce in.
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Post by susannah on Sept 26, 2019 17:57:38 GMT
After reading this, I checked the interactive average frost date map - for us, it's September 11-20. Guessing it'll be a later frost this year, since we're already past September 20th. I don't see any below 32F temperatures in the next week's forecast, and I am just fine with that. I hate to see the growing season end. This is one of the few times I miss living where we used to, relatively close to Lake Michigan; the first freeze average was October 11-20. I'd love it if we went that long without the freeze up here...you never know. We might!
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Post by feather on Sept 26, 2019 18:02:07 GMT
susannah, thanks for ringing in. I was wondering about your frost date, and also Skandi's and Minnesota too.
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Post by Tim Horton on Sept 26, 2019 19:33:23 GMT
We are zone 2 here in the bush. Our "usual" first frost is on average Sept 10.. It may have hit 0C one of the last couple nights. Predicted -1C sometime over this weekend.
Welcome to the north bush.
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Post by feather on Sept 26, 2019 19:46:15 GMT
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Post by Tim Horton on Sept 26, 2019 19:53:35 GMT
On average we have a 55 day season between last and first frosts on our plateau between the mountains.
About 40 km from us, down in the river valleys in Pot Hole City it can be a solid zone 4 or 5.. Kind of depending how the neighborhood is sheltered from the wind along the river.
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Post by solargeek on Sept 26, 2019 22:22:57 GMT
In central WI north of feather We are a few miles north from frost dates of October 1-10. Technically in In September 21-30. The earlier dates have never happened here since the 9 years we've owned this place. I think the cut offs are a little arbitrary.
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Post by susannah on Sept 28, 2019 15:17:18 GMT
As of right now, NOAA has "patchy frost" in the forecast for our area Thursday night. IF it happens, that would be October 3rd for our first frost - a later one. We'll see; I'll be watching. Patchy frost hits the low areas more often, and with the lakes not being frozen and being above 32 degrees F, we're sometimes lucky enough to escape the first few frosts.
Now, there IS an upside to hard frosts/freezes: goodbye, mosquitoes! After a painfully dry summer, late August and the entire month of September have been on the rainy side - and mosquitoes have made a return. I definitely do NOT mourn their passing!
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Post by Maura on Sept 28, 2019 17:09:40 GMT
Simply putting a cover over your crop will save it from the first frosts. Newspaper works, but there is also a material sold for the purpose.
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Post by bowdonkey on Sept 29, 2019 13:42:48 GMT
We had a light frost last week that took out the tomatoes and peppers. Night time temps are in the 40's now. Today it is only going to be in the mid 40's.. That's your weather report from zone 3 in northern MN.
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Post by Woodpecker on Sept 29, 2019 14:53:15 GMT
Don't think we'll be seeing frost until the end of October, ,,,Today's high is supposed to be high 70's. The squirrels have been Very busy storing up their nuts for winter. They started the beginning of September. I hope that doesn't been a nasty winter.
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Post by susannah on Sept 29, 2019 14:54:56 GMT
Simply putting a cover over your crop will save it from the first frosts. Newspaper works, but there is also a material sold for the purpose. Slightly off topic, but covering crops reminds me of back when we lived in southeastern Wisconsin. Our garden was in the south-facing side yard, up against the house, warm as could be and things would grow later than I ever imagined, assuming I protected them from the frost. And it was very visible from the road. I had cut some old white sheets that I'd gotten free and used those to cover the plants on colder nights. After awhile, I noticed several people coming up to the gate to look into the garden. I went out and asked one of my neighbors what was up, and she said "We wanted to see the Halloween ghost display you have." I still had several tomato plants with tomato cages around them; it was mid/late October and everyone was decorating for fall or halloween; the draped white sheets made it appear that I had a ghost display going on. It provided a little unintended entertainment for my neighbors, but I also loved being able to get fresh produce from my garden very late in the growing season.
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Post by susannah on Oct 4, 2019 17:04:32 GMT
October 3rd came and went without the forecasted "patchy frost." The seven day forecast shows no frost. Looks like it's going to be a late first frost for us. And I'm fine with that. It's Cranberry Fest weekend - which is always held the 1st weekend of October - and I remember a Cranberry Fest several years ago where it snowed. No snow this weekend, thankfully.
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Post by countrymom22 on Oct 4, 2019 18:05:28 GMT
Frost expected for us tonight. Enjoy the Cranberry Fest!
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Post by Use Less on Oct 4, 2019 19:49:04 GMT
There is frost predicted for early tomorrow morning south of here, including where I used to live. I'm enough north that I'm in the "patchy frost" section. That seldom means my garden I picked the last of the green tomatoes, peppers and the lone eggplant on general principles, and pulled most of the plants. There are a few very small zucchinis and cukes, so I threw double covers over them, and used clothespins to close where there were gaps.
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Post by feather on Oct 8, 2019 21:33:49 GMT
Here, SE WI, frost expected on Friday Oct 11th....I'm not ready. I'm making ready. Celery, Carrots, cover frames need to be recovered (now that we are back). Our Vacation sure got in the way of being ready.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 10, 2019 3:37:31 GMT
They are calling for frost tonight, here. Will be our first....James
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Post by willowgirl on Oct 10, 2019 4:45:21 GMT
Oooh, someone said the 'F' word!
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Post by susannah on Oct 10, 2019 13:23:08 GMT
Oooh, someone said the 'F' word! And I'm gonna say the "s" word, too - we have snow showers in the forecast for overnight Friday and overnight Saturday. Like feather, we're supposed to get the "f" word Friday night. And unlike the last prediction for frost - which didn't happen - with snow showers in the forecast they just might be right about frost this time. For us up here in Wisconsin's northwoods, to have our first frost October 11 is kind of late for a first frost. I have nothing that's still growing, we've done all the winter preps outside and the weather has been so unseasonably warm and beautiful this past week. On the one hand, yeah I'm ready for the frost. On the other hand, if I were given a choice I'd probably ask for a few more weeks just like this past one.
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Post by Woodpecker on Oct 10, 2019 14:26:17 GMT
No frost here yet, it's been in the 50's at night.
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Post by feather on Oct 10, 2019 15:00:20 GMT
Sorry about bringing up the 'f' word. The forecast for SE WI Today partly cloudy and sunny with rain tonight. Not freezing tonight. Tomorrow, rain all day, ending when it is forecast to be 28 deg F at night. So we only have today to get the parsley, peppers, celery, carrots. Then the cold frames. It will warm up during the days following, so time for getting straw for mulch and cutting the lawn one last time. I'll spend today and tomorrow prepping celery and carrots for the dehydrator. The peppers are half red half green, so they have a few days before they are ready to chop and be all red. I love it when they turn red and we can add them to soups or stews, and turn the stew from a brown or boring color into something more colorful.
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Post by feather on Oct 12, 2019 13:18:28 GMT
We finished up the cold frames late last night when it was supposed to frost. Then we laid a tarp over the back lettuce area in the back west garden.
It may have hit 32 deg F, but it was already 33 when I got up this morning. Nothing looks touched by frost. The nighttime forecast for the next 3 nights will hover close to freezing, then it will warm up for a few days.
We turned our heat on this morning. It was cold in the house. I was glad to have an extra quilt on the bed last night. brrrrrrrrr
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Post by Deleted on Oct 12, 2019 15:46:06 GMT
The frost forecast didn't happen, low here was 39 and lows will be in the mid 40's all week. It will happen soon enough....James
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Post by wally on Oct 12, 2019 16:33:51 GMT
We got our frost last night, 26 this morning
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Post by susannah on Oct 12, 2019 17:05:01 GMT
It was 34 degrees when I got up and there was no frost that I could see at our property. However. It's been snow flurrying off and on all morning. No accumulation anywhere, just flakes blowing sideways. So no to frost but yes to snowflakes. Does that count?
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Post by Use Less on Oct 12, 2019 17:49:24 GMT
No frost here yet. My indoor-outdoor shows 37' last night. Still have flowers on zukes, cukes, eggplant an volunteer squash. Picking a largish zucchini today, in fact. Midweek we're supposed to get two cold fronts in a row coming in from west and northwest. That'll do it. Susannah, sometimes we get wet flurries or even a covering of snow but no freeze.
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Post by oxankle2 on Oct 13, 2019 1:11:44 GMT
By George: You guys are scattered all over and just getting first frost? Here I am in Arkansas next to the MO border and I got a light frost last night. I did not bother to cover collards, Kale, Chinese cabbage or lettuce, but the lady down the road still needs peppers, so she came over and the two of us covered the bell pepper plants. They looked OK to me this AM; we will see. I'm sure the tomatoes are gone, and I picked the last ripe ones and some green yesterday.
As far as I can tell, this is right on schedule for this area.
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Post by Mari-in-IN on Oct 13, 2019 1:30:18 GMT
Checking in here from Northern Indiana. It was a very chilly 35° this AM but we didn't have any frost. Probably due to the rain we had overnight. Still, I pulled all of the peppers, eggplant, and some parsley out of the garden today... Also threw a lot of the Tommy Toe tomatoes to the chickens. I still have yet to pull those baseball/softball sized beets out to see if they are any good! Perhaps tomorrow... ~Mari
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Post by mogal on Oct 13, 2019 11:27:57 GMT
DH and I spent last Wednesday gathering all we could since we had off-farm commitments on Thursday and rain Friday morning. We hit 30o in the wee hours Saturday morning so our timing was good. We still don't have the covers on the hoop houses--fingers crossed I can convince DH it needs to be done on one of the days this week when the temps are to be in the 70's when it will be easier to stretch the plastic. I did cover some things closer to the house that survived just fine.
One of the sweet potato plants yielded a monster root, 3 slightly smaller ones and a bunch not much thicker than my thumb. The monster by the scale weighed 11# and the next 3 were in the 4-5# range. I haven't cut the big one but hope it's not fibrous and tough inside or the hens will be having a heyday.
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Post by feather on Oct 13, 2019 14:22:29 GMT
mogal, Wow those are big! What if they are not fibrous? How will you put them up? We had another frost close call 33 deg F last night. Tonight the forecast is for a low of 29 deg F.
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