Freeze Protecting Tomatoes, Beans & Peppers

Our typical last day of frost is May 15th and in a good year, the last freeze occurs in April. This year we have had a very cold spring but once it warmed up, it stayed warm - until last night, May 22, there were frost warnings. In addition to hundreds of flowers, we have about 300 peppers, 150 tomatoes, 100 beans and few hundred sweet corn plants in outdoor gardens. A severe frost would kill or severely damage any not covered by containers or blankets. We simply don't have enough of these to cover thousands of square feet.

For the last week I've been mowing fields and using the dried grass clippings for mulch - a few acres of the stuff. It's been very dry so the grass has remained very fluffy. I do this every year to eliminate weeds, conserve moisture, and add nutrients. By the end of the summer, worms have consumed more than half of this organic matter. I realized that loose mulch on either side of sensitive plants can be pushed together to support a cap of more mulch placed on top without hurting 2 to 5 inch tall pepper, tomato and corn plants. Using the mulch in the beds, it took only an hour to build grass huts over more than 600 plants!

Rows of Dried Grass Covering Sweet Corn

Close-up of Dried Grass Mounded Over Pepper Plants

Row of Covered Tomato Plants

Hot Pepper Plant Garden With 180 (Five Varieties) Covered in Mulch

Ground Up Dry Leaf Mulch Covering Tomato Plants Worked Too!

Our supply of blankets, towels, tarps and boxes readily covered the sensitive flower beds.

Raised Flower Beds Covered by Blankets Over Inverted Boxes

This morning, May 23, I got up at 5 AM. The thermometer I had placed on a flower bed overnight registered 28 F, a killing frost. I waited a few hours for the sun to warm the air before removing the grass tents. Wind gust had uncovered a few taller tomato plants and beans which were severely damaged, with limp and blackening leaves on top. They may come back. Peppers and corn all looked okay. It took two hours to uncover all the plants and redistribute the mulch, including pulling a few weeds.

Pepper Plants Uncovered

Pole Beans Uncovered Before Adding Climbing Trellises

A Row of Tomatoes Uncovered