Harland's Creek Farm Survives Cold Snap

The US weather service issues a freeze warning for 4 am to 8 am on Wednesday April 8 2009. 

We were concerned becasue it is usually 4 to 5 degrees colder at the farm than the forecast low temperature.  Also, in 2007, there was a severe freeze on April 5 that killed leaves on trees, all of the flowers on our holly bushes, and all of our transplanted corn.  Thus, the freeze warning was a call to action, and we spent a good portion of Tuesday preparing protections for it.  Below are some pictures of our efforts.   They were sucessful AND the cold was not too severe.  We dropped to 28 degrees for a few hours right at dawn and warmed up quickly after that.

We loaded the corn transplants on a large trailer and backed it into the barn.

The barn has a huge door to allow for large equipment to be brought in.  We covered the door with a large tarp and weighted it down to keep it clossed.

Next we focused on beds of tender transplants and flowers.  

Lilies that volunteered from 2008 were covered.

Beets,  tender lettuces, and pac choy were covered in Plots 1 and Plot 2.

Covered blueberries in Plot 3 looked like little ghosts floating in the field.

Some plants are cold tolerant Here is a frost covered red cabbage.  It survived just fine.