Winter 2023 - 12

FROST CONTROL
Defy
the cold P
How two North Carolina
farmers defend their crops
against frost
BY NANCY POWER
CONTRIBUTING WRITER
hyllis Walsh grows produce year-round as
the owner of DabHar Farm in south-central
Tools of the trade
ORGANIC GROWER CORRESPONDENT
Weed-fighting strategies and equipment have a field day
BY GARY PULLANO
North Carolina. Selling at the Waxhaw
farmers market near Charlotte, she finds that even in
cold, windy weather, her regular customers come by
because they are " really ready for some fresh stuff. "
Walsh uses a variety of frost protection strategies
to grow assorted winter vegetables. The first step
is choosing which crops to grow under which
conditions. Some crops can survive or even thrive
in the open field. She plants garlic, for instance, in
October or November for a June harvest. She also
starts bulb onions in the fall, to get green onions
that she can harvest at any time.
The onions and garlic stood up to a late
December polar air blast that plunged the
temperature down to 10 degrees, unusually cold
for the region.
Brussels sprouts and kale have held their own
in the open field, but the cabbages " don't look so
great, and would have done better under cover, "
Walsh said, who said she is always learning the
limit of each crop.
Walsh's strawberry plants do fine in the cold, so
long as they are not flowering. If they are blooming
when a frost is predicted, she covers them with
row fabric, rolled onto pipes or posts at the edges
to secure it. Along with local varieties, she grows
some northern varieties of strawberries that her
mother sent her from Iowa, replanting them into a
different bed each year.
A double layer of lightweight row cover protects
kale at DabHar farm. Photo: Phyllis Walsh.
For less cold-hardy crops, Walsh deploys one
or two layers of the second-thinnest type of white
polyester row fabric. She finds the fabric sufficient
for temperatures down to the upper 20s (normal
lows for the area) for carrots, kale, daikon radishes,
salad radishes and cauliflower.
Event organizer Sam Oschwald Tilton welcomes attendees to the
Midwest Mechanical Weed Control Field Day. Photos: Gary Pullano
12 WINTER 2023
She also grows broccolini, chicory and escarole
under fabric in the fall until the plants peter out.
When she saw the prediction of the polar blast in
late December, she pulled up the salad radishes but
left in the daikons. The latter had leaf damage and
Winter 2023

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Winter 2023
