I Planted 5 Crops Too Early In Winter… What Actually Survived?

Quick Overview

The early winter planting of turnips, arugula, and carrots inside the high tunnels, despite subsequent single-digit temperature nights and an ice storm, successfully survived due to the use of four layers of Ag-50 frost blankets, which block about 70% of sunlight but provide approximately 8 degrees of protection per layer.

Key Points: The farmer planted turnips, arugula, and carrots four weeks prior to the video, in early January, inside the high tunnels. The crops survived severe winter weather, including single-digit temperature nights and an ice storm, due to extensive layering of frost blankets. Four layers of Ag-50 frost blanket were used over the root crops, providing roughly 8 degrees of protection per layer. The Ag-50 material blocks about 70% of sunlight, which keeps the area inside dark but protected. The kale planted earlier (August summer planting) in the main tunnel also survived the cold nights. The farmer plans to plant lettuce seedlings and cover crops in Tunnel #4 next week, aiming for a harvest starting in March. The farmer promotes his supplier, Farmers Friend, offering a 5% discount code CHEFMIKEY, valid until June 1st.

Context: The video features a farmer, identifying himself as Chef Mikey, providing an update on his winter farming efforts in Knoxville, Tennessee, specifically focusing on how his early-planted crops inside high tunnels fared after recent severe cold weather, including snow and ice storms. The success of overwintering cold-hardy crops like root vegetables relies heavily on passive protection methods employed within the unheated hoop houses, such as multiple layers of specialized frost blankets.

Detailed Analysis

The farmer, Chef Mikey, provides an update on his winter crops planted four weeks prior in early January inside his high tunnels. He confirms that the turnips, arugula, and carrots planted in the high tunnel survived a period of severe cold, including single-digit temperature nights and an ice storm. This survival is attributed to the use of four layers of Ag-50 frost blanket placed directly on top of the root crops, which provides about 8 degrees of thermal protection per layer, although it blocks around 70% of sunlight. The kale planted earlier in the summer in the main tunnel also survived. The farmer then shows the nursery bench inside another unheated tunnel, where various seedlings (including beets, greens, and alliums) are thriving under Barrina LED grow lights, offering a 15% discount code CHEFMIKEY for those lights. He shows the bare beds in the main high tunnel, ready for the next planting of lettuce seedlings and cover crops (like those grown in Tunnel #4, which contains corn and cucumbers during summer), hoping to harvest the root crops by March. He notes that the primary challenge is running irrigation when the tunnels are unheated and covered, but the protection worked well against the cold.