Anyone had a frost yet?

[Millymollymandy]

I look at 4 weather forecasts and they all say something different but looks like they all agree, that one day (a different day of course ) next week it will get to possible frosty weather (between 1 and 4C). I suppose I'd better pick the green tomatoes, peppers and the sweetcorn then.

It's not bad though as a few years ago we had our first frost on 1st September!

As a quick aside, does beetroot survive frost? I have absolutely no idea.

[Jandra]

MMM,

We've frost forecast for our German address too. In the past my beetroot has survived an occasional bit of frost at night, but not much.

Jandra

[grahamhobbs]

England is expected to see the first frosts this week, although I doubt it in London.

As to frost hardiness of beetroot, I think it depends on the variety. I seem to recall that for instance Cylindra is winter hardy, but personally I lift them because of slug damage.

[MuddyWitch]

Due to get our first frost tonight...tbc

My beets are uisually lifted by now so I don't know if they would survive...but this is me being a fair weather gardener: I'm not frost hardy!

MW

[Squirrel46]

The max/min showed a 0ºC on Thursday morning, the eighth of this month.

[Millymollymandy]

I think I might dig out some fleece for my lettuces as I really don't want to lose them and have to go back to eating floppy horrible supermarket rubbish.

My beetroots are half out of the soil (is that normal?) so I suppose I could earth them up. I don't want to eat them all at once and have no room in the freezers!

So, tonight it will either be 3C, 6C, 6C or 9C according to the online forecasts. This is the problem!

I'll leave my geraniums out as they can withstand a bit of frost and they still look so lovely!

[MuddyWitch]

No frost here yet, but it did get down to 4 degrees C according to my min/max thermometer in the polytunnel.

MW

[Annpan]

There was a hard frost here last night, was still below zero at 9am....

Here comes a long hard winter again....

[KathyLauren]

Our coastal climate is very similar to the British climate. Around here, people leave most of their root crops like beets in the ground all winter. It seems that the ground is a better storage medium than just about any root cellar or other artificial storage system. People just dig them up as they are needed, provided the ground isn't too frozen at the moment of digging. They survive mild frost quite well, and usually become sweeter as a result.

[Thomzo]

Not yet here in Swindon but some of my colleagues in Cheltenham said that they were scraping ice off the cars this morning.

Zoe

[Susiwaa]

we had anice crispy frost yesterday morning but it's warmer today.

Not got much in the ground this year sadly. mainly herbs and my ever growing strawberry patch!

Will need to get my act together this wkend I think!!

Susi

[Millymollymandy]

3.9C and our first frost! I didn't bother to protect anything and they should be fine, it's 0C that I have to worry about. It's always so sad when the dahlias go black.

[Peggy Sue]

We've had 2 mild frosts, enough to tinge the edges of a few leaves but not kill the toamtoes that are against the fence.
I have left beetroot in overwinter the last 2 years, I don't remember when they ran out, maybe December, but the frosts are pretty mild here - even in a tough winter they don't really get serious til Jan.
I think by then the rabbits are so hungry they normally eat throught he allotment wire to get at anything left.

I love beetroot in a big way but have got a bit carried away this year and do have too many....think I will be pickling this weekend

[MuddyWitch]

Still no real frost here: black fly STILL thriving!

MW

[Millymollymandy]

Oh Muddy blackfly will carry on thriving after many, many frosts! So do caterpillars.

Well I shouldn't really laugh!