My Veggie Heaven

The weather is broken. (Mind your frost date!)

• By MyVeggieHeven
• May 2, 2014
• No Comments

As my husband would say, “The weather is broken.”  It’s true. This was truly the longest winter ever.  Just 2 weeks ago it was snowing out.  But I have had things planted in the garden for over a month now and they are doing very, VERY well.

WHAT???  Planted stuff in the garden already!?!?!?!?  Yup.  Sure did.  I planted the stuff that doesn’t actually mind the cold.  Lettuce, onions, peas.  I also planted cabbage seedlings that are thriving. Officially the frost date for northern New Jersey is May 15th.  If you put seedlings out prior to that, especially if you haven’t hardened them off, you are asking for trouble.  Many plants such as tomatoes, eggplants and peppers simply will not tolerate cold overnight temperatures or even the slightest frost. If the plants don’t just die outright, at minimum they have been shocked and many not ever perform very well.

So the moral of the story is, be mindful of your frost date, keep seedlings protected by keeping them indoors or using row covers. Do some research on what the frost date in your area is, soil temperature and average overnight temperatures.  Here is a link to the Farmer’s Almanac website that gives you a handy grow guide based on your zip code.  http://www.almanac.com/gardening/planting-dates/zipcode/07860

Spring is finally here. Happy Gardening!