Anita do not use the F word. Out forecast for tonight is 0 to -2 depending on which weather forecast you look at. It will be our first frost. That is not funny, brrrrr.

What a bunch of wimps. 😉

We had our first frost last week and it is -6 this morning. Everything is white with frost and the sun is starting to slowly melt it off. A beautiful fall morning. We pulled the last of our garden last week. I'll be putting on some old manure next week, rototill it and that will be it till next spring.

Well I loved the symmetry of 15 it was so balanced. Now I have gone and broken it. Too bad.
Gees if that that sounds like a bit of a riddle it is. If you PM me with the answer I'll send you a prize. I really will no kidding. It is a prepper related prize that I think you will like.

Now to the reason for the post. I have lived in northern Ontario for 38 years. We used to have the first frost without fail by September 10th. Over the last decade this was stretched out to September 15th. This year is the first time we have had September frost free. Last night before midnight the temperature dropped below freezing. No real frost this morning as it soon climbed above 0. Now that is a record, almost an extra month frost free. I love the extended growing season as we did not lose one thing to frost this year!

Just had my first killing frost this morning in oct, but things under cover or in the greenhouses are fine, still the slowing down on the big things in the garden is a good thing as its coming up to the fall butcher time, and its the signal to switch gears from veggies to meat.. these cooler temps are perfect for fall hanging, brining and smoking!

I got hit with frost last night also. Temp this morning was -3. Almost everything had already been pulled and added to the compost pile. I still have green & yellow beans under cover when frost warnings are out. Hopefully I can get them to seed soon.

Surprised when I pulled up my turnip plants (which were previously only turnip greens with no root vegetable to speak of) to clear out the garden as I found 2 small turnips after all. Good to know they can actually grow in my garden, likely just needed to plant the seed a little deeper as the roots that did not grow into vegetables had actually grown sideways in an effort to stay underground. Next year...next year will be better and will likely have 2 gardens. 🙂

Surprised when I pulled up my turnip plants (which were previously only turnip greens with no root vegetable to speak of) to clear out the garden as I found 2 small turnips after all. Good to know they can actually grow in my garden, likely just needed to plant the seed a little deeper as the roots that did not grow into vegetables had actually grown sideways in an effort to stay underground. Next year...next year will be better and will likely have 2 gardens. 🙂

I had the same problem with my turnips...and thought about the same solution too.

I had the same problem with my turnips...and thought about the same solution too.

Good to know it wasn't just me 🙂

I just plowed my garden with a 2-bottom about a week ago. I am now wishing that I would have put manure down before hand. Would there be anything wrong with putting it down now and just leaving it on the surface until spring? In the spring I will probably till it with a walk-behind tiller. I have people around me with a variety of animals that I could probably get manure from... cows, horses, goats, pigs. I have heard that pig manure is the worst, but what is the best from the rest of the choices? Thanks.

By the way, I am fairly new to gardening but so far I have been trying to grow swwet corn, tomatoes, cucumbers, watermelon, pumpkins and other vegetables.

I had the same problem with my turnips...and thought about the same solution too.

Good to know it wasn't just me 🙂

If you are using raw uncomposted manure, then it is best to put it down now. It needs 90 days of warm temps. for it to break down enough not to burn your plants. By putting it on now, it has all winter to denature to use an improper term loosely. By planting time in the spring, you should be good to go unless you put a foot of the stuff on there.

Composted manure can be put on anytime you please as long as there is no danger of it being washed away. Composted manure is no longer manure. It is dirt. You can stick your bare hands in it.

Use any kind of manure you like. Just google the nitrogen content of it to determine how much to use where, depending upon the plants you are putting in that spot. Composted manure is "cooked" to use another term loosely. You won't have any issues with it concerning parisites ect..which was most likely the reason you were told not to use pig manure. I should add that pigs these days are not fed meat so their poop is no longer in the same category of dog and cat poop. Dog and cat poop is best used for ornamentals and house plants.