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Side PlotA step by step, week by week vegetable garden.

Thursday, October 27, 2011

Freezing Temperatures Tonight (pick your tomatoes)

It's kind of late for this - I wish I'd thought to post about this a few days ago - but freezing temperatures are forecast for tonight.

Plants that were fine to plant in early spring should also be fine now at these temperatures, e.g. chard, arugula, mizuna, mustard greens.  (Chard is the only one that will still be around from spring, but you might have planted more of the others later or have "volunteers" growing from the left-over seeds.)

However, if you have basil outside or still have tomatoes on the vine, you probably should pick them right now (I mean: right now, before you go to bed!), even if they are still green.  Otherwise, they may be destroyed outside tonight.

Even picked green, larger tomatoes will usually ripen inside in a few days or weeks, if they're weren't extremely green. Just leave them sitting out at room temperature, and use them as they ripen.  (I have found cherry tomatoes don't ripen as well, but if they are already partly changed colour, they will probably make it.)  Green or partially ripe tomatoes can also be good cooked or preserved in various ways - you'll find lots of recipes online, of course.

Note that depending on your location, you may not actually hit the forecast low.  The urban heat effect can make a few degrees of difference - often it seems like my location at Bloor and Dufferin gets milder temperatures than the Environment Canada forecasts, and further east, past Christie from Bloor southwards often seems noticeably even warmer.

You may also be able cover your plants with a blanket, and that might be enough to protect them.

I picked mine just as it was getting dark, and then realized I should write this.  But now you'll need a flashlight.

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