Frost

Basil, done for the season

Eggplant Frostbite

Wednesday and Thursday night we received a hard frost at One Love Farm. This is a little early for most of Rhode Island (my friends in Newport and Providence didn't get frost and probably won't for a couple of weeks). In fact, talking to people at the Farmers' Market on Saturday, a lot of folks in Hopkinton, Richmond and even Hope Valley didn't get frost this week. But, One Love Farm is in a low spot, even for Hope Valley so we get frost in early October every year (October 10th in 2010 and October 12th in 2008).

You'll be happy to know that the Rogue Tomato I posted about last week survived the frost. That's because he is sheltered by the house and back stairs, which radiates heat at night and creates a tiny micro climate. Micro climates are areas which are different from the surrounding areas. There can be many reasons for the differences in environment. In this case a man made structure (the house) causes a micro climate of a few square feet. When we lived in Warwick Neck, we had a micro climate there due to the Narragansett Bay keeping temperatures cooler in the Summer and warmer in the Winter than the surrounding area. At that house, we often didn't get frost until well into November and one year we even harvested tomatoes for Thanksgiving!

Even though the frost kills off tender plants like basil and tomatoes and eggplants, many species love this cool weather. Arugula, for example, loves a couple degrees of frost overnight. Later this week, I'll post about some plants that are thriving at One Love Farm this fall.