It’s official: the cold weather finally caught up to us and it really feels like winter in Texas now. With freezing temperatures almost every night this week and daytime highs below 50 F, the farm (and us farmers) are all bundled up. Ever wondered what farmers do to prepare for a freeze? There are certain procedures we follow to protect the crops that can make it through, and cash in on the ones that aren’t guaranteed to survive.
First off, a PSA: there are many different methods and materials farmers use for freeze prep, and it looks different from one farm to the next. This is what we do here at VRDNT specifically.
The first thing we look at is how low the temperatures will drop for how long. We’re watching for freezing temperatures (around 32F and below), and if temps are staying that low for more than 4-6 hours. Every type of vegetable has a different temperature it can withstand before taking damage or dying. 32F is the threshold when we start to worry, although many winter crops can survive lower temps in the mid 20s, including rutabaga (probably our most cold hardy crop on the farm). However, we farmers tend to air on the safer side and take precautions at the sign of freezing or near-freezing temperatures lasting more than a few hours. So, of course, with freezing temps almost every night this week, it was time to get serious.
The Power of Water
Water is both a helpful tool before a freeze, and can result in a big headache afterwards. On the upside, we can use it to our advantage and water in crops before a freeze as a means of insulating the soil. On the other hand, we have to do everything in our power to ensure there’s no water sitting in the pipes or irrigation that will lead to freezing and bursting. To avoid this, we always drain the field irrigation and pack shed water before a freeze. We haven’t had a burst pipe yet this year!
Row Cover & Bulk Harvest
Row Cover (or as we often refer to it by one of the popular brand names, “Reemay”) is the white sheet-like fabric you may have seen farmers use to protect crops during a freeze. Row cover can provide an extra 2-10 degrees depending on how thick the material is, plus it combats windchill. This is enough for most of our winter crops to make it through freezing temperatures down to 20F or so. If you take good care of row cover and get lucky with low natural disaster damage, row cover can be reused and last for many seasons. We install row cover a couple of different ways: throwing it over plants that are close to the ground, or strong enough not to snap under the pressure, and weighing down the edges with sand bags; or using hoops to create insulated tunnels. Whenever possible, using a wide row cover to protect multiple crop beds is the most efficient use of time and materials.
We prioritize what crops get covered based on what’s strong enough to withstand the weather and what will give us the most yield. Any storage crops that are ready will be harvested prior to a freeze. For us this year, that included daikon and watermelon radishes, rutabaga, and the last few small cabbages. The rutabaga probably could have withstood this week’s temps, but it looked great and was a decent size, so we decided to play it safe and bulk harvest. There were also some partial crops in the field that didn’t produce enough for the CSA, so we harvested those to be sent to market (broccoli heads and the last few cauliflower). We covered our four kale beds, three rows of collards, five beds of carrots (again, they may have been able to make it, but covering them ensures better protection, especially for their greens), home-grown onion starts that we plan to transplant out for bulbing onions, lettuce mix and lettuce heads, dill, and beets (they weren’t quite big enough to bulk harvest and they are very cold hardy).
There’s also our hoop house, the large plastic-covered tunnel that keeps everything well-insulated. Hoop houses, high tunnels, and greenhouses are infrastructure that helps farmers extend growing seasons and keep crops better protected. We’re still figuring out the best uses for it on our farm, and there’s not very much in there right now, just some cherry tomatoes, eggplant, shishito peppers, and oregano that are still miraculously producing. The first of our spring transplants are hanging out in there this week, too. We’re able to roll the plastic siding up and down, and it stays nice and cozy in the hoop house with everything closed.
Sacrifice & the Cycle of Life
When we’re preparing for a freeze, we have a limited amount of time to get everything done. We prioritize what’s most important to bulk harvest and protect with row cover, and there may be some crops that we leave to chance and see if they make it. There is almost always some level of sacrifice and acceptance. We did pretty well for this freeze, and it looks like the only thing we were crossing our fingers for that may not make it is one bed of swiss chard. It’s already been cut for bunches more than a handful of times, so if it doesn’t make it, it still had a great life and provided lots of good food.
As this season’s vegetables are harvested or wither away, they’re creating the starting line for spring. Soon, we’ll start turning over beds for the next round of crops, and we already have spring transplants growing, eager to move into the field at the first opportunity. That’s what farming is all about: making the most out of each season and embracing the next with open arms and an open mind.
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