Frost hits the farm!

We knew that the warm weather was not going to last. Yesterday, a cold wind came out of the north, bringing snow and over 12 hours of frost . By morning the gardens and fields were looking decidedly chilly! Some crops, like our rhubarb, will soon recover. Our peas, just emerging may re-emerge from nodes beneath the soil . The asparagus will be delayed, but new spears will persist. The raspberry flower buds have not yet extended , and will be somewhat protected. The trays of new seedling in the greenhouse were kept warm by the fire we kept buring during the night in the stove. But we are not able to protect the strawberries. Normally, frosts in May occur during clear, still clouldless nights. when heat from the plants on the ground is sucked up by the black sky above. Damage from such drosts - called radiation frosts - can be controlled by turning on the irrigation sprinklers, until the sun warms the plants in the morning. But last night , we experienced an advection frost (also know as a wind frost), when the high winds made irrigation frost control useless. The newly expanding flower buds have surely been damaged. There are a limited number of buds, not yet developed, which may replace the ones hit by frost. Frosts are predicted for the next two nights. The irrigation system is ready. If frost does come, we hope for a still calm nights so the we can irrigate to protect the remaining flower buds from damage.