November 20, 2009
Boise, Idaho
Get your garden ready for first freeze
By Adam Rodriguez
CALDWELL - Things look to get downright cold in the Treasure Valley Wednesday night. Farmers are ready for the big chill, and garden owners can be, too.
Call it a little homegrown wisdom. “There's nothing like a home-grown tomato. You just can't beat that flavor that you get from something that you've grown yourself,” says Eileen Williamson, of Williamson Orchards. The Williamson family has been reaping the fruits of their labor at a family farm off Highway 55 near Marsing for a century. Co-Owner John Williamson helps run the apple and peach orchards, his wife Eileen has a garden out back. “Tonight very well could be a season-ender,” Eileen says of the cold forecast for Wednesday night. “If it gets below 35, 34, you'll see damage on just about everything." But Eileen plans to wrap her tomatoes and a few other vegetables with sheets and duct tape. It will help them retain their heat. John doesn't need to be as proactive. “Basically, for orchards the peaches are picked and apples can stand 25 degrees without damage,” John said. The farmer says the warm weather the Treasure Valley has seen for the last several weeks helped his fruit mature faster, and the sudden cold balances it out. What John's really worried about is: "Wind, this wind,” he said, “That might be a bigger problem than the frost." Wind blows apples, peaches and grapes right off the vine or branch. It's not the frost John is watching, it's the fury. “No year is ordinary. Every year will be different. No such thing as an ordinary year,” he said. |
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