Home | How It Works | Ideas | Calendar | Newsletter | Contact Hodgson Biologic Calendar Upcoming Events There are no events. Hodgson Biologic 2 Klarides Village Drive Box 205 Seymour, Connecticut 06483 203-888-3898 In Connecticut's Naugatuck Valley April, 2009 Show Full Year Event: Cover Up! Date: April 13th, 2009. The last few nights, and possibly the next one or two, temperatures have been below freezing. If, like me, you have seedlings popping up in the beds, you may be concerned about losing your plants just as they were starting. While most of the seeds planted outdoors and sprouting up now are likely to be somewhat frost-hardy, it won't hurt, and will likely help very much, to cover the plants at night with a thick row cover. Don't have one yet? Use a sheet. Remember to weigh the edges down with rocks or some other heavy item, to keep the winds from blowing the covers off. Remember, also, to get the covers off in the morning once the temperatures are in the 30's, so the sun can warm the soil. It is spring in New England, and some of us are also anticipating less moderation of temperatures (colder at night, hotter during the day, cold days followed by warm days) in the years to come. Row covers, mulch, the use and establishment of microclimates, and cold frames are tools for dealing with unpredictable weather. But none of these is effective when we lose focus. No, you don't need to obsess about temperature. But if (again like me) it is difficult, some days, to remember the row covers (off or on) or watering, or other regular garden task, it won't hurt to put a note on the refrigerator or bulletin board, or a reminder on your PDA, cell phone or computer calendar as well. If you want to go high-tech, there are temperature alarms available. These are particularly useful for people growing tender plants like strawberries. An unexpected freeze can ruin a crop. So, when temperatures dip, an alarm can be set to alert the (probably sleeping) gardener or farmer, who then must head out to the berry patch and start up the overhead sprinklers (this usually averts catastrophe). For me, this would be overkill. I have simply added "check the weather report and cover the plants if needed" to my list of evening things to do. So far, so good. April, 2009 Show Full Year

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