Despite the warm weather in early March, Old Man Winter wasn't (isn't?) done with us yet. Last week saw four nights of sub-freezing temps that have wrecked havoc on gardens and farmers in the region. This is known colloquially as "Dogwood Winter," even though at our elevation, the dogwoods aren't yet blooming.
Luckily, I didn't have much out yet and was able to pull containers of herbs inside temporarily. I had placed one container of tomato and pepper seedlings in the cold frame to begin the hardening off process and forgot about them. Despite the thermal cover, the cold bit them hard and they died. Luckily, I have more inside under the lamp. Probably my biggest worry are the hop vines that had begun to sprout and climb. They were about a foot off the ground and look pretty bad right now. I'm hoping the rhizome will send up some new shoots. The chard and sugar snap peas in the salad bed had sprouted. They're cold hearty so I don't think any long-term damage was done to them. My biggest disappointment was that the flowering cherry tree at the north end of the property had just begun to break its buds when the chill hit. We won't be seeing it's spectacular beauty this year.
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