This is the coldest morning of the winter so far here in the Saint-Aignan area. The temperature on our outdoor thermometer reads –3.5ºC. That's about +26ºF. Our outdoor thermometer is in a relatively protected spot on the north side of the house and reads a little high most mornings compared to reports we get on different weather sites on the Internet. I think this qualifies as a "hard freeze" — une forte gelée. Tomorrow the morning low temperature is supposed to be back above freezing, however.
One of the weather sites we consult lets people post the current conditions where they live. It's météociel.fr, and right now somebody in Blois, 25 miles north of Saint-Aignan, is reporting a temperature of –4ºC, and somebody over in Romorantin, 20 miles east of us, is reporting –9ºC (+16ºF). I don't know why it is often so much colder over in Romo, but it is. Other observers say it's –8ºC up in the Orleans area, 60 miles northwest of here.
The temperature in our recently built greenhouse is +3.3ºC (38ºF), with no extra heater on down there. The plants look fine. With the door between the greenhouse and the utility room open, the utility room is colder than it would be otherwise, but the greenhouse is warmer. It works for us. Outdoors, it's cold, but the Tuscan black "dinosaur" kale (above) doesn't seem to be much bothered by the freeze.
Minus 7 degrees of Centipede here.... our thermometer is on the weather station... right out in the potager and at two metres high.
ReplyDeleteThe boiler control unit thermo is mounted just outside the boiler house door and is always in shade... but that is minus six at the moment.
Black Tuscan and Red Russian both are happy down to about 24 hrs of minus fifteen, then they begin to show wilting....
we normally have a feast of kale if that happens... and freeze the excess.
Both plants will give a fresh flush of leaves in Spring... and then sprout.
Once they have sprouted, and the sprout stems have become tough and are too small to be worth picking, the plants are out and on the compost.
We have accidentally let the odd Red Russian set seed... that is very useful, they come true and the little plants transplant very easily... the excess get eaten!
Last year I harvested my collard greens in mid-February, just before I headed off for two weeks in North Carolina. I feared a hard freeze while I was gone, and didn't want to lose the crop. Temperatures here are supposed to rise over the coming week, but if I see a hard freeze coming I'll do as you do — cut or pull out all the plants. We always had collards and other greens in the garden in wintertime in North Carolina. A "collard patch" was a standard feature in many yards.
DeleteThe collards we grow seem to be fine too... if you pull the kales up you will miss the best... the young spring growth.
DeleteAnd pick the leaves, don't cut the plant, it will only give a new flush if the growing tip is there... unlike cabbages.
We've had such a plentiful crop of kale that I won't worry about a hard freeze killing the plants while I'm in N.C. in February this year. If they don't bite the dust, tant mieux. If they do, tant pis.
DeleteMaybe like your thermometer reads a little high, so may the thermometer of the person who reports from Romo read a bit low.
ReplyDeleteEven the real weather sites like Accuweather, MétéoFrance, and Météociel usually report big differences between temperatures in Romo and other nearby towns (Blois, Bourges, Tours).
DeleteBrrrr here too! We are having a winter storm. I had to go out and take the wind chimes down because the wind is blowing a gale and the rain has turned to freezing rain. I doubt if we get anything other than freezing rain here on the coast. I would rather have snow! I haven't checked the weather today to see what they are predicting, but it's a stay indoors day!
ReplyDeleteI looked at Accuweather for Morehead a few minutes ago and saw how cold it is supposed to get — colder than here. Stay inside and stay warm. I hope the layer of ice from that freezing rain won't be too thick and heavy.
Deletemy dear friend we had -23 degrees in the morning now -14 degrees..
ReplyDeleteSorry for you. Stay warm...
DeleteI am in Florida for godssake and it is 6 C !!! No one had ever dare mention global warming to me. grrrr. or rather Brrrrrrr.
ReplyDelete