Hurricanes AND Winter Storms
Yes, friends, it's no picnic to be a perennial plant in the Galveston area. They go through blistering summers, hurricanes, and....snowstorms! Annual plants, such as French marigolds and broccoli, also have their weather obstacles to overcome, but at least it's not a mix of hurricanes AND winter storms. It's more like a "pick your poison" type of thing!
When talking about protecting plants from inclement weather, planning ahead (far ahead) is essential to ensure you have all needed supplies. Prior to expected freezing temperatures, covering tender plants with frost cloth is fundamental. We like to use N-Sulate (recommended by Maas Nursery), a medium-weight frost cloth that (if used correctly) can keep the area around the plant 6-8 degrees above the outside air temperature. When covering plants, "think tent, not popsicle" (as advised by Angela Chandler from Urban Harvest). See the picture below.
PS: beware that it is going to dip below 40 degrees next week on the island! No frost cloth needed, unless you have tropical fruit trees, such as mango or guava.
The most exciting gardening months of the year are almost here!
Some gardeners love fall gardening - understandably, since in our area we can plant so many crops at that time of year: from leafy greens (lettuces, collards) to root vegetables (beets, turnips, carrots) and big vegetables such as broccoli and cauliflower. However, I think that springtime is my favorite because we are still harvesting all of the yummy fall vegetables, while planting and beginning to harvest tomatoes, cucumbers, green beans, snow peas, sugar snap peas, bell peppers, zucchini... Hmmm, nothing like a fresh zucchini or a fresh pea pod from the garden...
Our tomatoes are happily growing at the Moody Gardens greenhouse and will be ready for planting after next week's cold snap. All of our gardens have either growing peas or pea seeds planted. Bell pepper and bean seeds have been planted at the greenhouse. Cucumbers and zucchini are next. Tomatoes should be planted as early as possible. All other crops listed here are better off planted in the first week of March!
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