Monday 13 June 2011

Late frost

We had a slight frost on Saturday night - 11-12 June; my record late frost here was on the 16th a few years ago. The tips of the potatos were shrivelled, and one or two beans which escaped the fleece were blasted. The oca was OK, as was everything in the mini-greenhouses. Not too much damage, but it's unexpected this late.

I've been planting out peas and brassicas; the Daubenton's Kale is now almost a foot high, and out among the peas. When I pull them, the brassicas can grow on and profit from the extra nitrogen.

7 comments:

  1. Wow, that's late. Are you far north? We've had a couple of cold nights here but none that cold. I hope everything recovers okay!

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  2. I'm in Birmingham. Everything should be OK. One bean has caught it worse than anything else; I had half a dozen to start with, they've been hit twice, and I'm down to three. That'll give me seed for next year though, and I was never expecting to get much of a crop from them.

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  3. People think I'm exaggerating when I say how late the last frost can be. Glad you have enough beans for a seed crop, at least.

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  4. The other beans seem to be OK so there should be plenty for harvest. I'm always surprised by June frosts, but maybe I shouldn't be.

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  5. We had some hail damage here in London a few weeks ago, but no frosts. I'm beginning to think that having deeper paths between raised beds would allow cold air to drain off, reducing damage from slight frosts.

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  6. As long as there's somewhere for it to run off to. The site's in a slight valley, blocked at the bottom by a railway embankment. It's not hard to see why it's a frost pocket!

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  7. Strange weather! I hope the frost didn't cause too much damage.

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