For the last few years, our first frost of the year was a killing frost, but this year we got a bit of a reprieve.  Even though our first frost came right on schedule in the middle of October, we didn't have a killing frost until November 6.

In case you're scratching your head in puzzlement, a killing frost is generally considered to be a frost with temperatures at or below 25 degrees Fahrenheit.  Lighter frosts will kill your summer-loving plants like tomatoes and okra, but fall crops shrug these baby frosts off and keep right on growing.  A killing frost, though, tends to take out all but the most hardy garden plants --- the few uncovered lettuce plants were mildly nipped by our recent frost and the broccoli was slightly damaged, but mustard and kale were still green and happy the next morning.

The first killing frost also tends to knock the last of the autumn color out of the trees, so now only a few oak leaves cling to the branches.  Our hills suddenly seem much lower when you can see through the trees.

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About us: Anna Hess and Mark Hamilton spent over a decade living self-sufficiently in the mountains of Virginia before moving north to start over from scratch in the foothills of Ohio. They've experimented with permaculture, no-till gardening, trailersteading, home-based microbusinesses and much more, writing about their adventures in both blogs and books.



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