Looks like we beat the average first frost day of September 14 again this year! Although not as impressive as October 1 last year, the forecast is looking good for the next week.
So far only the Amaranth has taken a hit. Everything else appears to still be growing. So I guess this is a "moderate" first frost, no "heavy" killing frost yet (unlike Edmonton, sorry guys). According to Environment Canada, measured at the Calgary ariport (same elevation as the Middle Earth Garden), we had -0.5 C on September 18. Everything survived this first light frost. Last night was -1.1 C.
The Amaranth doesn't seem to have any seeds yet, that I can find. I will take a closer look tomorrow. So may not get any Amaranth seeds this year. This spring was exceptionally slow germination, starting them inside would help alleviate this risk.
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Congratulations on the mild Autumn, and I won't be jealous. All my South American plants (tomato, tomatillio, ground cherry, potato, scarlet runner bean) succumbed to the first of the two -6 frosts we had. I'm too timid to try growing grains, and probably way too lazy to harvest and process them, but I did try the more or less native North American sunchokes (Helianthus tubersosus) this year. I think they need a longer growing season than we usually have and certainly longer than this year's. Unlike the supposedly related Helianthus maxmillianii, sunchokes go out with the first frosts just like the annual sunflowers do. Mine seem to have gotten caught napping before they redirected carbohydrates to their tubers.
Looks like October 16 marks our first "killing frost" this year with -3.9 C at the airport. This finishes off most things, except the kale and carrots.
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