Tangled Branches: Cultivated
happenings in and around my zone 6b gardens in northern Virginia and in central Virginia
Wednesday, November 07, 2007
Central Virginia is not Northern Virginia
And microclimate is everything.
Last week as I was sitting in northern Virginia typing a smug post about escaping the frost, I was blissfully unaware that in central Virginia the pepper plants were frozen under their Agribon-19 cover. Oh well.
This year was to be all about discovery at the central Virginia garden, and I've just discovered that I can't extrapolate the northern Virginia weather to central Virginia. See on this zone map where there's an odd little pool of zone 6b in the midst of zone 7a in central Virginia? That's where my garden is. It's something to do with the topography, I think. There's a low spot in central Virginia where all the cold air drains. Really. I didn't make it up, but right now I can't find a good website to link to that explains it all. And then my garden is located near the bottom of a hill in the midst of that larger low spot, so the microclimate there gets the full effect of the cold air drainage.
Net result: frozen pepper, tomato, and basil plants.
But this wasn't all bad, because over the weekend I pulled out the remaining (frozen) plants without a bit of remorse so I could plant garlic. I put in 4 varieties, purchased online from Gourmet Garlic Gardens: Chesnok Red, Romanian Red, German Stiffneck, and Nootka Rose. Next weekend I'll plant the ones I bought at the Virginia Wine and Garlic Festival, along with some shallots I picked up today at the Korean grocery store.
Yolanda Elizabet mentioned in a comment that she relies on her own instincts to know when there's going to be a frost, and over the years in northern Virginia I've gotten a pretty good feeling for the sort of day that precedes the first frost. I think today was that day. It was cloudy, nearly overcast and blustery. I expect tonight the winds will calm down and the sky will clear and everything will be frozen in the morning. I'll let you know.
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| Cloudy skies and blustery winds = frost? From the November photo album |
7 Comments:
Your two gardens seem like mine and those of Pam/Digging and MSStevens - I freeze and they're still blooming.
But sometimes a freeze sets you free to move on, doesn't it, Entangled? Instead of using your energy on protection you're allowed creation. Good luck with the garlic!
Annie at the Transplantable Rose
I think you are right that over time, a gardener starts to 'sense' when that frost or freeze is coming. Our big frost came after a cloudly, blustery day, then that night the skies cleared up and BAM! Killing Frost... and it was over for the season.
Stay warm!
Carol at May Dreams Gardens
It is strange that you can be in the same USDA zone as we are in NJ when you are so much further south. Bet your summers are hotter though.
Interesting about cold air pooling in low areas. We have a swale behind our yard and when the conditions are just right to form ground fog you can see the cold air movement into the swale. Kinda neat.
We've had a bad infestation of flour moths. They seem to eat everything not just flour. I found the larvae happily chomping on our net bag of garlic so I put the bag outside to kill the larvae. Now your mentioning planting garlic just gave me the idea of planting the cloves instead of just throwing them away. Would be interesting to see if any came up.
Annie: I like your idea of creation vs. protection, and when the parting is involuntary there's no guilt. Freedom is a good thing.
Carol: It happened just like that here overnight. I don't know why but it always seems that the day has to be cloudy and windy for it to happen. I'm moving on to thoughts of wearing wool and planting spring bulbs.
Ki: It does seem strange that you're in the same zone - must be the ocean's influence in NJ. I was hoping to gain a zone in central Virginia, but no. A few miles in just about any direction would do it.
I just read online that the overnight temp was 25 in the closest town to us in central Virginia vs. 27 here in northern Virginia. I'm talking myself into buying a weather station for the garden down there to prove that the cold area really does drain into the garden.
For a long time, the only garlic I ever planted was from the grocery store and it always grew perfectly well. I don't think it ever had anything chewing on it before I planted it though. I'd give it a try anyhow. I wonder if dunking the cloves in alcohol before planting would kill the larvae?
I understand how crazy a microclimate can get, too! We just moved in late spring, so we don't know exactly how the weather works here. Supposedly we're in zone 8 or 9, but here's the catch: it is getting into the mid-30s during the night, and still in the high 80s to low 90s during the day! Ugh. My cold crops are loving nights and wilting during the days, the warm crops are loving days and nearly dying at night. I'm so confused!
Melinda: Wow - I'd be confused with weather like that too. I planted lettuce in early September for a fall crop, and the weather was so hot in September and October that it turned bitter. I'm hoping it will survive some light frosts under its Agribon cover and the new leaves will be better (not bitter).
I have a similar zone situation...only reversed! I am in warmer micro-climate at river level (6b) surrounded by higher elevations on all sides with cooler climates. Here in the valley we have about a month longer on either end of the growing season.
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