First Frost!

For the past few days I have begun my morning by throwing open the curtains to see if Father Frost had visited the farm overnight. Today was the day! First Frost is one of two very important days in my farming calendar (the other being Last Frost), as a frost will put an end to many of my tropical plants (like my beloved Tulsi below!).

Predicting the First Frost date is somewhat of an amusing (I mean stressful) game (I mean high-stakes-gamble), because accurately predicting when it might occur means I can maximize the yield from the field. For the past 5 years I have carefully logged the First Frost date, and I have collected a couple of interesting data points…

• The earliest First Frost was Oct 9 (2022) and the latest was Nov 3 (2021). So this year is on the earlier side!
• The hummingbirds can be a good indicator. The hummingbirds will get the heck out of town roughly 2 weeks before First Frost. I keep a hummingbird feeder by my kitchen window so that I can get real-time updates. They loudly and aggressively argue over the feeder all day long, all season long. And when they disappear, I know to start my First Frost countdown!

Happy First Frost Friday!!!