Our old timers have always said not to trust that we are past a freeze until after Easter.   I’m generally impatient and want to push it at least a little.

Mother Nature generally reminds me of my place.

Much of what is planted in the garden right now – and that list is pretty long – should handle a gentle freeze without too much trouble.

This is good – because we have a forecast of 32 degrees with frost warnings for Monday night.  It’s still a week until Easter.

What to do?  Just what you and I do – get out the sweaters and extra blankets.

A look through the garden on April 14, 2014.

Tomatoes generally feel sad about anything under 45 degrees and get downright depressed by an actual 32 degrees.   If you are interested in some of the reasons these cool nights we’re still having can have such a slowing effect on the garden, there is an interesting article on the USDA website.

I’m grateful to have been slow about getting all the tomatoes set out and hopeful that our little tents will be enough to save some of the blueberries.

Beans and Squash are warm weather plants and are just about 2 inches tall.   They won’t like the cold and the beans, in particular, may need to be replanted to bring in a good harvest.   I put off starting melons yet because they would certainly have been hurt.  If we get them started in the next week or two, we might still have watermelon for the 4th of July.

And a cold spell certainly isn’t all bad news.   The cold will make the kales and parsnips sweeter.  They love a gentle frost.

The good news is that we were already ready, having used the row covers quite a bit this year for protection from bugs and wind as well as from cold snaps.

If you are waiting for the CSA to start, I’ll be sending final confirmation of dates this week.  We may need to delay for a week to allow the garden to recover and extend for a week later in July.  I should know by Wednesday.

Sending good thoughts out to all our farmers and gardeners.  May your tomatoes stay warm and your kale be sweet!