A light frost means temperatures fall only a few degrees
below freezing and just for a few hours. Hardier plants may not be damaged by
this, but more delicate ones will. In contrast, a hard or killing frost is when
the temperature drops below 28 degrees Fahrenheit for a longer time, such as
overnight, which will kill pretty much all perennials and root crops. Some plants, such as garlic, can benefit from a hard frost as I mentioned in a previous post. Most don't, however, so there are some
precautions that we should take.
One of the easiest and most common ways to protect plants
from frost is to cover them to help retain heat and moisture. The most
frequently used material for this purpose is burlap, though for smaller, low-growing plants a cardboard box can suffice.
Placing covers over the plants at night and removing them
during the day, assuming the temperature allows, can extend their productivity
slightly. However, eventually most areas will get too cold for this to work; at that point, we can tuck our beds in for their long winter's
nap.
We start by removing any plants still in the ground (especially weeds) and
turning the soil. This is also a good time to mix in any natural fertilizers, such as manure or home-made mulch, so they can break down over the winter.
Once the soil is prepared, we cover our raised beds for the winter to keep seeds and debris out and our leaf mulch top cover in. We typically use the same burlap we covered the plants with
before we pulled them, but we've also used layered newspaper or sheets of
cardboard. Make sure that whatever is used, the edges are weighted down against the
wind.
When spring rolls around again, all we have to do is pull
off the covers, give the soil a light turn, and start planting.
Good luck, and may your garden sleep well.
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