"Farm1" please@askifyouwannaknow wrote in message
...

I suspect that you already know enough from what you've written in the
comments aboove and further on in your post.

well that's encouraging!

I think it's now more a
need for you to understand how it will impact on your own garden and
no site will tell you that - more a case of look and learn as time
goes on. IIRC you are only newly moved to that place but went there
from the ACT???? The ACT has ripper frosts in the more open areas but
if you were in a Canberra suburb the frosts there are much mitigated
by the microclimate formed by the suburbs and it's not like it used to
be in the 'old days'. I've even seen azaleas growing in Canberra now
and that was not possible about 30 years ago - it was Mollus Azaleas
or no Azaleas at all in those days.

certainly i noticed some frosts there, but it wasn't too bad (small yard in
the burbs, yeah). and also, by the time they came it was "frost time", so
that was all right anyway. it's really, really dry there too, which i
suppose helps(?). it's barely rained all year. here, the clouds come over
the mountain from the coast so it's generally much more moist. (i think
frost is frozen moisture from the air, is that right?)

Yep, and because it has that Easterly aspect, you'll need to be
careful about the sun hitting frozen plants, but then Eastern fall
land is better overall for plant growth.

i see. should i just keep them covered until they are thawed? i didn't know
this. i like the eastern aspect, the veg get plenty of sun without having to
bake & bake to a crisp all afternoon on a hot day.

A good demonstration for you about how frost drains downhill. In
future plant more frost tender things on the top of the veggie patch
(which we both know that you won't do - none of us ever do that given
that our space is usually limited by one factor or another:-))

you're not wrong :-)) we made so many beds that one is actually still empty,
& i was going to be all organised in order to rotate & all that, but the
reality is a little different ;-) the beans have just been stupid this year
& this may be why (the cold, the frost), although the slope keeps going, it
doesn't stop at the beans, but by the time it's come a way downhill is the
frost clinging to the ground more?

The way to go might be to make more use of rock mulches, but make sure
the rocks are BIG rocks about the size of an adults head - not ****y
little things.

i have big rocks :-)

You could build walls or make hedges BUT they in themsleves can be
problematical. They can trap frost behind them and make the damage
even worse. For instance, I wouldn't build a stone wall at the bottom
of your veg patch unless you made it into a V shape with trhe bottom
of the V pointing downhill and with a break at the bottom of the V.
This should allow frost to be directed and drained through the break,
but also if the wall doesn't heat up well and get lots of solar intake
during the day, it could just be a further problem.

good point.

From what you've described, I think I'd plant a hedge that has good
growth right at the bottom of the hedge (to stop frost draing under
it) on the top of the downhill side of your swale ie the downhill side
of the U shape but at the top of the U - does that make sense? - I can
see it in my head but am having trouble putting it into English.

i think that makes sense. the idea being, the frost will more likely have to
travel along the swale & the hedge without being able to get into the veggie
patch so much?

I too have thought about the permi sun trap beds but in reality, I
realise that on country water supply (which I think you might also be
on????)

yes.

they would be a pain in the arse to water efficiently and
effectively

do you mean because of the shape, or the rocks sticking up, or ..?

and also there is more of a problem for plants from being
too hot than needing the protection of the higher outer growing
plants. I've stuck with the rectangular shape for maincrops and put
other stuff under the edges of fruit trees round the edge of the veg
area. This has worked well for things like cutting greens and
strawberrys and things that don't like our nasty scorching sun or
which wilt at the drop of a hat.

hm. i had the idea that i could make short walls around the southern end of
each bed (or perhaps just a couple) perhaps for things which like heat. i
take your point about heat not always being helpful :-) we are classified as
"cool temperate" here, which means that overall it is not hot, but of course
there are still really hot days too. it's a poser!!

thanks!!
kylie