These vegetables get sweeter after being kissed by frost, making them a delectable wintertime treat. So don’t despair when that first frost hits; instead, get excited because you’re about to get some delicious gifts from the garden.
That first frost can be a sad time for gardeners because it is often thought of as the end of the time of year when we can harvest garden produce to eat. However, there are actually lots of vegetables that not only withstand the frost, but actually taste better after the temperatures drop!
When the frost hits, the naturally occurring water inside a plant freezes, causing distress to the plant. In order to combat this, some plants produce more sugar, which allows them to tolerate a lower temperature without freezing. It also means that the plants become sweeter and tastier.
These are the vegetables that get sweeter after a frost to harvest late this season.
Root Veggies
Beets, carrots, turnips, rutabaga, radishes, and parsnips are delicious after the first frost but before the ground freezes. They are also such a hearty, comforting food that they are exactly what many of us are craving during the cold winter months.
Even if you don’t get to them before the ground is frozen, leave them in the soil over winter and harvest them as soon as the ground around them thaws. They will still taste great as long as you get to them before they start re-growing their leaves for spring.
Brassicas, or members of the cabbage family, all taste great after the frost. These include collard greens, kale, Brussels sprouts, bok choy, cauliflower, and, of course, cabbage.
The best way to grow members of the cabbage family is to plant them in the spring to harvest a crop in the summer, and then plant them again in the summer to harvest a second crop in the winter (or even the following spring).
Brassicas grow best in cooler environments and, while they do produce well in the summer, it is the winter crops that really take the cake. When the first frost hits, the roots work hard to prevent the plants from freezing by sending sugars up to the cells in the leaves, making the leaves sweet and tender. Harvest these post-frost and enjoy getting your greens on throughout the winter!
Leeks
Leeks also get sweeter and more flavourful after a frost. Harvest them as long as they are not frozen into the ground (in some areas, this means you can be eating your own leeks all winter long). There’s nothing more comforting on a cold winter’s night than a hot, steaming bowl of leek and potato soup!
Leeks and rhubarb.
Lettuce and Spinach
Most types of lettuce and spinach prefer the cooler temperatures, often bolting during the heat of summer. You can easily sow an additional round of greens at the end of summer to enjoy in the fall. They can reach maturity and harvest in a month (cut-and-come-again varieties).
Spinach can survive to about -7°C (30°F). But you don’t want to harvest the leaves when frozen, as they will turn mushy once thawed.
Most lettuces can only tolerate a light frost, but can easily be protected with a season extender.
Other greens, such as arugula, tatsoi, and radicchio, can also handle the cold well.
Speckled lettuce
More Fall Gardening Tips
A city girl who learned to garden and it changed everything. Author, artist, Master Gardener. Better living through plants.
Central Florida experienced some of the coldest air of the season so far, breaking records in several cities on Tuesday. This is the earliest we’ve experienced such a significant drop in temperatures since 1993. Highs on Tuesday are struggling to reach nearly 60 degrees. This weather is being described as Impact Weather due to the significant change in conditions.WednesdayCold weather and frost advisories are in place overnight into Wednesday for parts of the region. A light freeze is possible in Marion County.Looking aheadTemperatures are expected to slowly warm back to normal by the weekend.First Warning Weather Stay with WESH 2 online and on-air for the most accurate Central Florida weather forecast.RadarSevere Weather AlertsDownload the WESH 2 News app to get the most up-to-date weather alerts. The First Warning Weather team includes First Warning Chief Meteorologist Tony Mainolfi, Eric Burris, Marquise Meda and Cam Tran.What is Impact Weather?Impact Weather suggests weather conditions could be disruptive or a nuisance for travel and day-to-day activities.What is a Severe Weather Warning Day?A Severe Weather Warning Day suggests weather conditions that could potentially harm life or property.
Central Florida experienced some of the coldest air of the season so far, breaking records in several cities on Tuesday.
This is the earliest we’ve experienced such a significant drop in temperatures since 1993.
Highs on Tuesday are struggling to reach nearly 60 degrees.
This weather is being described as Impact Weather due to the significant change in conditions.
Wednesday
Cold weather and frost advisories are in place overnight into Wednesday for parts of the region. A light freeze is possible in Marion County.
This content is imported from Twitter.
You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site.
Plenty of frost to go around Wednesday morning and even a light freeze is possible in Marion. Here’s a look at the latest frost advisories across Central #florida. This will likely be expanded later today across Sumter and Marion and Flagler counties. #weshwxpic.twitter.com/oesynEinJr
Temperatures are expected to slowly warm back to normal by the weekend.
This content is imported from Twitter.
You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site.
First Warning Weather
Stay with WESH 2 online and on-air for the most accurate Central Florida weather forecast.
Download the WESH 2 News app to get the most up-to-date weather alerts.
Residents across several southern and central U.S. states are being urged to prepare amid subfreezing temperatures and the potential for frost damage.
The National Weather Service (NWS) has issued multiple freeze warnings and frost advisories spanning from Alabama and the Carolinas to Missouri, Arkansas, Kansas, Oklahoma, and northern Georgia.
Why It Matters
“Frost and freeze conditions could kill crops, other sensitive vegetation and possibly damage unprotected outdoor plumbing,” the NWS cautioned in its freeze warnings.
Local temperatures in the Burke Mountains and the following counties—Buncombe, Eastern McDowell, Henderson, Macon, Northern Jackson, Southern Jackson, and Transylvania—are expected to drop to as low as 28 degrees Fahrenheit.
Areas of northern, central, and western Missouri, as well as parts of eastern Kansas, are under both frost advisories and freeze watches. In Missouri, lows could reach 26 degrees, with locations such as Adair, Buchanan, Clinton, Caldwell, and Linn counties highlighted. Kansas counties including Atchison, Miami, Linn, Leavenworth, Johnson, and Wyandotte may see lows near 32 for the frost advisory and possibly as low as 28 under the freeze watch this weekend.
Frost advisories have been posted for Blount, Calhoun, Cherokee, Clay, Cleburne, Etowah, Fayette, Jefferson, Lamar, Marion, Randolph, Shelby, St. Clair, Talladega, Walker, Winston counties in Alabama through 9 a.m. CDT Friday and again Saturday morning. These areas should anticipate lows ranging from 34—38 degrees, according to the NWS.
Parts of South Carolina, Georgia, Arkansas, Oklahoma were also under frost advisory as of early Friday.
“Take steps now to protect tender plants from the cold,” the NWS advisories suggested.
What People Are Saying
The National Weather Service forecast office, Greenville-Spartanburg, South Carolina said on X, Friday: “Should be a mostly clear, dry, and cool autumn day. Temps will fall back into the 50s this evening with light wind, should any of you have outdoor plans. Frost on the pumpkin late tonight, with temps falling well down in to the 30s and upper 20s.”
NWS Kansas City, Missouri said in a post on X, Friday: “A widespread freeze is expected across the region on Saturday night, but freezing temperatures are also possible tonight in northern Missouri. A stray shower may occur this evening, especially south of I-70. After a cool weekend, warmer temperatures return next week.”
What Happens Next
Local forecast updates are issued by regional NWS branches on the agency’s website and social media channels.
One day you’re sweating while weeding, the next you’re wearing a jacket for the morning chill. When we feel the cold beginning to settle in, it’s a good idea to start prepping your garden for its hibernation. Here’s how to protect plants from frost and snow this coming cold season.
Vancouver is a temperate rainforest, meaning my winters tend to look a little more green than white. But that doesn’t mean we never get snow. Once or twice during the winter, we’ll get a big snow dump that usually shuts down the city.
We can still get our cold snaps. Just last year, we set a record for the coldest January yet. Many people lost shrubs and perennials that had survived many prior winters, as they just weren’t ready to handle those extreme temperatures.
While you can just leave your garden to its own devices for the winter, you may experience some losses once everything thaws come spring. You can avoid the disappointment by taking a few steps to winterize your garden. We’ve got to keep our plant babies safe after all.
Here’s how to protect plants from frost and get ready for the winter season!
Containers are less insulated than ground plants and need more care to winterize.
Garden Prep Ahead of the Winter Season
Before the cold really sets in, you can set your plants up for success. Here are a few things to be aware of to prepare a garden for winter.
Add a Layer of Mulch
Mulch is one of the best and easiest ways to winterize a garden and protect plants from freezing. Adding a two-to-four-inch layer of mulch can help protect the roots beneath from freezing. Think of it like a nice cozy blanket for the plants.
Add a layer to the base of trees, shrubs, and perennials. Keep the base of the trunk clear to prevent rotting. There are many natural mulches you can use, including fallen leaves and straw. It’s good practice to remove some or all of the mulch in the spring when things begin to warm up.
Opt for natural mulch that will work its way into your soil come spring.
Overwinter Tender Plants
Most of my plants I leave outside to fend for themselves, but there are a few special plants I like to bring inside or move for the winter. Succulents thrive in warm conditions, but there are some hardy succulents that actually love a cold period.
Many sedums, sempervivum, agave, ice plant, lewisa, and yucca will overwinter in Zone 5-6 plus. If I have these planted, I’ll leave them in the ground and clean them up in the spring. If they’re in pots, I’ll move them under cover, such as under a deck.
Any tender succulents should be brought inside.
I also bring in some of my more tender herbs. Most of my annuals I’ll say goodbye to and plant again in the spring. The ones that do the best when brought inside include mint, thyme, and oregano. Others, like basil, you can take a clipping to propagate and bring indoors.
Of course, you may have more tender plants you want to bring inside (a tropical perhaps?). Most plants in pots may need some extra care and protection.
Clean up any plants you bring indoors to prevent the spread of pests and disease.
Winterize Your Water
To avoid the horror stories of burst pipes and flooded basements, it’s good practice to turn off your outdoor faucets. This can be done by locating the shut-off valves (usually inside the house) and turning them off, then returning outside and turning the faucets on to drain the remaining water.
You should also ensure your hoses and nozzles are properly drained and stored. And if you have a water feature, such as a fountain or pond, winterize it as well.
Add Winter Interest Plants
While this may not be an absolute must, I am giving you an excuse to visit the garden centre and take advantage of an end-of-season sale. In early to mid-fall, you still have time to plant some perennials. Ideally, you should do this six weeks before the first hard frost. This gives the plant some time to establish roots and settle in before the winter.
While most of winter is spent hibernating inside and getting cozy, you may still need to get outside from time to time to check on your plants.
Plants in Snow
If you’ve ever shovelled snow, then you just know how heavy it can be. Imagine the weight on the plants! When you experience a large snowfall, it’s good practice to brush off the snow from your shrubs (don’t shake) and lower tree branches to help lessen the weight. Otherwise, you may end up with broken branches or even smothered smaller plants.
If you have newer shrubs or trees that may be more vulnerable, you can stake them with wooden or metal supports for the winter. It’s also a good idea to selectively prune young plants to maintain a good and strong structure as they grow older.
You can also tie branches together to help them withstand the impact of snow. This works best for young evergreen trees, where you can bundle up the branches and secure them to the trunk.
Shovel and sweep heavy snow away from plants.
Avoid Using Road Salt
Vancouver’s solution to snow often comes in the form of road salt, which is a nightmare for gardeners, since it can be toxic to plants. Road salt readily dissolves in snow melt and water, absorbing into the soil. This can cause plants to turn yellow, send out suckers, become more susceptible to pests and diseases, or just die.
The salt spray can also hurt the upper part of plants, mainly causing browning and bud dieback, leading to a loss of leaves, flowers, or fruit the following spring.
Overall, I don’t worry too much about a frost since it’s part of the gardening experience. I say goodbye to my annuals and trust that my perennials will be just fine.
That being said, sometimes extreme cold can be in the forecast, and you may want to provide some extra protection in addition to the mulch you would have applied in the fall and early winter.
If you can move potted plants, bring them into the garage, a shed, or somewhere else where they might have protection.You can also add some frost protection, such as row cover or burlap, to give any of the more tender plants more insulation.
Bonus: Winter Planters
To get a little bit of garden therapy in during the winter, why not make some winter-themed planters? I love to use the cold to my advantage and create planters with evergreen boughs that will last for months.
I always like to use inexpensive materials you may already have. A simple sheet or old blanket can be a great frost cover, as can burlap or even cardboard. And don’t forget how valuable natural mulch can be!
Should I water my plants before I cover them for a freeze?
Watering plants before a frost is actually a good practice and can help protect plants from freezing. Water can absorb and hold heat, helping to keep the soil and roots warmer than the air above. Dry soil and conditions won’t hold the heat as well, and cause the plant to lose water.
Even during the winter, your plants need moisture. Snow provides plenty of moisture in the winter, which usually means you don’t have to worry about watering. But if conditions are dry, you may need to water.
Check your soil first by placing your finger in the soil to the first knuckle. If it’s dry, water your plant at the base, avoiding getting the leaves wet. Only water the plant in temperatures of 4°C or higher (40°F).
Does snow protect plants?
While it may seem contrary, snow and plants are a great pair. Snow primarily consists of air (about 90-95%), making it a great insulator against cold temperatures. It also helps to prevent temperature fluctuations that can confuse your plant. If you have a sudden cold snap coming, a blanket of snow can help protect your plants against it if it precedes the cold.
Rhododendron bud in snow.
Keep Your Green Thumb Busy This Winter
A city girl who learned to garden and it changed everything. Author, artist, Master Gardener. Better living through plants.
Autumn apple picking this year might be more challenging than usual, due to a late frost this past April.
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Late April frost could challenge apple pickers in Virginia this fall
Autumn apple picking this year might be more challenging than usual, due to a late frost this past April.
“All of the growers in this area suffered from that frost, and as a result, they have a much lighter crop of apples than they normally would,” said Cheryll Green, who works at the family-owned Hartland Orchard in Markham, Virginia.
The unexpected frost in the last week of April damaged apple crops in Fauquier and Loudoun counties.
“It happens when the apple trees are in bloom; it kills the blossom — the part that becomes the apple,” Green said.
While supply was down for apples that are picked and eaten earlier in the season, late-season varieties, including Fujis, should be plentiful.
“We’re seeing that with more Granny Smiths on the trees, as a result of them coming on maybe a little later,” Green said. “From now on through November, they probably will be good apples to pick.”
The orchard is open daily, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Apples are $20 for a half bushel, cash or checks only. The farm market also offers freshly made apple cider doughnuts and caramel corn.
“Families have a limited number of things where every member of the family will have a good time, from a toddler up through a teenager,” she said. “This is one of those things.”
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With fewer hours of daylight and pumpkin spice’s takeover front of mind, fall is in full swing in the D.C. area. But chilly temperatures haven’t arrived to demand residents yank those puffy coats out of storage.
With fewer hours of daylight and pumpkin spice’s takeover front of mind, fall is in full swing in the D.C. area. But freezing temperatures haven’t arrived to demand residents yank those puffy coats out of storage.
Here’s what you need to know about when the first frost is expected.
Every 10 years, the 30-year climate averages get updated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The current 1991-2020 data set has been used for a few years, but early this month, the local weather service updated the median date (date in the middle of the data set) for the first hard frost of the season and spring’s last hard freeze date.
For D.C., the frost that ends the growing season occurs on or about Nov. 1. This lines up with the first fall freeze date from the previous climate normal (1971-2000) of Oct. 29 to Nov. 5.
In Baltimore, Maryland, the median date for the season’s first hard frost is also Nov. 1. This hasn’t changed much from 20 years ago when the date was Oct. 29 to Nov. 5.
Two maps show the median dates of the first fall freeze and spring freeze. (Courtesy National Weather Service)
The National Weather Service will put out freeze watches and warnings until the first hard freeze occurs, which happens on clear, calm nights with temperatures of 28 degrees or colder. Temperatures that cold end the growing season, even for hearty plants.
There’s a fly in the ointment. If we don’t see a killing frost by Nov. 15, the weather service will declare the growing season over. This happens by default because all vegetation becomes dormant thanks to lack of sunlight that shuts down the photosynthesis process in plants. Freeze watches and warnings will not be issued after Nov. 15 — even if the temperature drops for the first time of the fall season to 28 degrees or colder.
The median date for the last spring freeze in D.C. and Baltimore is April 11. Typically, after this date, vegetation is in bloom and temperatures at or below 28 degrees would be detrimental to the development for the growing season.
While the D.C. area has chilly temperatures in the forecast on occasion through the next two weeks, the Interstate 95 corridor is not expected to see a killing frost.
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Van and Rachel remember the lives of Dikembe Mutombo and Kris Kristofferson (:15) and debate the appropriateness of a sexy TD Jakes R&B album (13:58), before discussing Boosie’s most recent comments on his daughter’s sexuality while on Yung Miami’s podcast (28:34) and Caresha’s involvement in the latest Diddy lawsuit (59:53). Then they dive into the latest and weirdest news out of the GOP (1:06:09) before Representative Maxwell Frost joins to talk about being the first Gen Z member of Congress (1:14:44). Plus, Chappell Roan’s position on the 2024 election has the internet abuzz (1:44:59).
Hosts: Van Lathan and Rachel Lindsay Guest: Representative Maxwell Alejandro Frost Producers: Donnie Beacham Jr. and Ashleigh Smith
This is an opinion editorial by Dan Gould and Nick Farrow. Gould is a developer who worked on TumbleBit, PayJoin and Chaincase App and has been sponsored by Human Rights Foundation and Geyser Grants. Farrow is an Australian Bitcoin engineer best known for his open source payment processor SatSale.
“Hey, I just got an invite to this hackathon in Malaysia,” said Evan Lin, interrupting my flow over my laptop in the Taipei Hackerspace. “That sounds magic,” I snapped back. “Can I come?”
I’d been smacking my head on the desk for weeks. Lin had been tearing apart my idea of what bitcoin privacy was. “It’s a private event, not your typical hackathon. I can ask.”
One flight, two weeks, and six minutes of voice message logistics later, we were walking down durian-lined streets of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, with Lloyd Fournier, ruminating over a shared passion to make bitcoin privacy stick. Now we were a team. We set out to upgrade Fedimint using half-polished cryptography, some scribbled-down notes, and then demo it at the first-ever Malaysian BitDevs meetup five days later.
Fournier had joined Nick Farrow to develop FROST, a new threshold cryptography that takes advantage of Taproot, in the months prior. Being a fountain of Bitcoin human resources, Fournier had also been working closely with Lin who is a Bitcoin Dev Kit (BDK) contributor. He and I had spent the last few weeks upgrading PayJoin privacy under fluorescent lights during the wee hours in Taipei, Taiwan, so we’d established trust to jump in the deep end on a project together. Fournier’s invitation was a step to the edge. To demonstrate the cutting edge cryptography to the world, we had to put FROST in an app. Fedimint had everyone’s eyeballs for its new threshold custody model. It was fit for the quest.
Self-custody is a novel, scary concept for most people. So many people store bitcoin in third-party custody on exchanges, leaving them exposed to censorship and indecent surveillance. Federated mints offer a third way: A federation of known guardians keep community funds safe. So how does it work?
Anyone can send bitcoin to a Fedimint in exchange for E-cash tokens. The guardians share custody of the community’s bitcoin in a multisignature wallet. The E-cash tokens are just some data: blind signatures redeemable for some amount of bitcoin later. They’re superpowered banknotes. Submit a Lightning invoice and your E-cash tokens to “peg out.” You could get E-cash in a text and have the federation reissue signatures so nobody else can take it. The signatures are blinded, so it can be redeemed in total anonymity. Anyone can send E-cash to a Fedimint to get bitcoin.
In order to share custody between guardians, Fedimint uses legacy Bitcoin Script-based multisignature addresses. A threshold number of guardians sign in order to transfer funds. These funds are easy to spot on the blockchain since Script multisig writes the number of signers and the total number of guardians to the blockchain for anyone to see. Even though E-cash is anonymous, surveillance companies could identify peg-ins, peg-outs and cluster community funds. By harnessing Bitcoin’s latest upgrade, Taproot, our team solved this privacy issue by switching Script multisig to FROST.
Enter FROST
FROST (Flexible Round Optimized Schnorr Threshold) is a powerful new kind of multisig that aggregates the key shares of federation members into a joint FROST key. To spend under this key, a threshold number of members must each produce a signature share. The shares are then combined to form a single signature that is valid under the joint FROST key. Members coordinate off chain. FROST transactions are indistinguishable from regular single-party Taproot spends, and so stop the creepy surveillance. On top of that, FROST allows for flexible federations, allowing new guardians to join without coordinating every member of the federation to generate new keys again.
Our first step was to understand how the federation reached a consensus each signing round. Fedimint’s consensus algorithm can tolerate bad behavior for up to a third of the federation and still reach consensus. It took a day on the white board to decode the consensus algorithm and another to configure the initial FROST key generation.
Coming to Fedimint consensus (picture supplied by authors)
We cheated key generation by doing it all in a single trusted device’s memory. In best practice, a two-round ceremony keeps an individual’s secret shares of the joint FROST key which only ever exists on that individual’s device. The overall secret is never reconstructed.
Coming To Consensus (Signatures)
We tested a peg-in transaction before we modified Fedimint wallet code and got perplexed. Because of a limitation of blind signatures, Fedimint E-cash tokens (akin to CoinJoin outputs), are limited to preset denominations so that each E-cash token transfer has an anonymity set. Waiting and waiting and waiting, Lin laughed that we must have messed something up.
Turns out, standard note denominations we set required the mint to generate around 300,000 signatures to issue enough E-cash to cover the peg-in amount. There are proposals to fix this by using anonymous credentials instead. We reset the mint to use much higher default denominations since we were just testing. Hackathons are for hacks, after all.
In a stroke of good luck, Bitcoiner Malaysia had just formed and was primed for their first event. Between the four of us hackers, a host of the largest Chinese bitcoin podcast and the scholar on track to earn the first Bitcoin Ph.D. in Malaysia, we planned to show our proof-of-work at BitDevs at the end of the week.
Our hardest task remained ahead of us: federated signatures. To produce a FROST share, signers must agree to common randomness, called nonces. In the case of Fedimint, the signers use consensus to agree on a unique nonce for each federation member joining a signing session. Then signing participants aggregate shares into a complete signature.
While we drafted our live demo for the meetup, we managed to get some nonce sharing semi-working and fixed some fee bugs too. Despite our hard work, dinner rolled around before our code worked. We crossed the threshold into the deepest hackathon territory huddled around the TV for triple-paired programming in Farrow’s hotel room.
An Unreal Experience
With our tapwaters ready and Unreal Tournament soundboard cranked up, Fournier sat at the keyboard, while we hurled bug fixes, variable names and commands from the back seat. 1:30 a.m. rolled around and our eyelids were heavy. A few taps later, just like magic, the peg-out worked. Each signer would receive signature shares from the others and redeem anon’s E-cash in exchange for bitcoin. “Flawless Victory” rang out of the soundboard. We cheered in disbelief.
Except it did not work. The next day we ran the code and saw problems straight away. We only got lucky the night before. It worked only once out of three or four attempts. We combed over hackathon-quality code for hours. Well after lunch, we still worried we’d have to cram in another late night. To our avail, we found the problem: a classic indexing error. At 5:00 p.m. FROSTimint was ready to present.
Once we circled up for BitDevs, locals took a self-described “support group” format for introductions. Fournier brought us back to reality with the technical. The inaugural meetup deliberated the future and foibles of custodians with delight. How would we choose guardians? Can they hold fractional reserves? Most importantly, how can my laksa noodle soup shop transcend fiat by using Fedimint?
This is a guest post by Dan Gould and Nick Farrow. Opinions expressed are entirely their own and do not necessarily reflect those of BTC Inc. or Bitcoin Magazine.
