I have a garage, but there is no light in there whatsoever. I'd hate to kill them by leaving them in there for 48 hours, too. Ahhh...the dilemma! I really wish I wasn't going away. The forecast looks a degree or two more dismal right now. One site is predicting a low of 23, the best case scenario is 27. Would being inside at a temp of 55 while still inside their little greenhouses really be that shocking? It has been as high as the low 70s in the past week. The main difference would be lower light levels in the house, in my view? I probably have sprouts in about 60 out of 100 containers right now. Probably only 10-15 of those are annuals (alyssum, cleome, sweet pea, sunflowers of various sorts, annual poppies, bachelor buttons, forget-me-nots, a couple of cosmos) that I mistakenly WS'd too early. Maybe someone can tell me if any of those sprouts are likely to tolerate the temps. I am inclined to trust the WS process with the perennial sprouts and leave them alone, but I'm trying to compensate for my mistake with the annuals to get the best outcome I can Thanks so much for the help. Lisa

Carol, This time of year is so hectic anyway, even without fires to put out. Sounds like you've been at least as busy as we have, if not busier. Yesterday's fire was a house fire, and there is nothing more heartbreaking than seeing a family's home burning a week or two before Christmas. It is tragic any time anyone's home is damaged or destroyed, but just seems worse when the holidays are near. This morning, we awoke to 16 degrees, defying the NWS prediction of 25, and at Burneyville it was 12 degrees. It is a frosty cold morning out there, though not nearly as cold as it was yesterday morning. This is not a week that I really have time to think about the garden, as we have three Christmas parties/gatherings to prepare for in the next six days. The good news is that after I fill up all the gift bags for the VFD party and family party, there will be more available shelf space in my pantry. Right now I've got home-canned jars of food tucked into every nook and cranny. Maybe after all the bags are filled, I'll be able to walk into the pantry again without tripping over cases of filled jars piled up on the floor. I agree that low tunnels perform in a pretty impressive manner. I think I will be using them a lot more in the winter plantings. The issue I have is that they can get pretty warm on our occasional hot winter day, so if I am leaving for the day, I need to uncover the plants, or at least open the ends of the low tunnels to allow good air flow. The other thing that is surprising me is how much better the greenhouse has held heat. Last year with no special measures in place, the greenhouse air was just as cold as the outside air. This year, with a lot of molasses feed tubs of water serving as solar collectors (I have big boards over the tops of the tubs and plants in containers sit right on top of those boards), and with the Aluminet shade cloth helping hold in the heat, the greenhouse has routinely stayed at least 8 degrees warmer than the outside air and often 10-12 degrees warmer. When I bought the Aluminet earlier this year, I primarily wanted it for the shade, but had read that it also helps hold in the heat in the winter (and I was skeptical about that). So, I am pleased to see it truly it a dual purpose shade cloth. Of course, men are never satisfied. While I am perfectly happy that the greenhouse has extended our harvest season more than 2 months past our first frost back in early October, Tim's been talking with a friend of ours whose family has put up their first greenhouse this year. They have heat lamps in theirs, which has him thinking about heat lamps, heaters, etc. I was trying to keep the greenhouse simple and economical to operate but he's getting all kinds of ideas about how we can keep it warmer and keep it operating year-round (which really wasn't my intention). I'm tired of the cold weather and it has just begun. Dawn

plants will live through temps down into the upper 20's provided it warms back up quickly in the a.m. and only hits that temp for a short bit at the coldest point of night... often the tops of the plants will get wasted and the lower leaves and fruit will survive...

No comments from here. I have had way to much rain,33 degree nights, 60 degree days. Last week I thought winter was over than another CA storm, more rain and a 28 degree night. I never cover any plants when rain is forecasted, I think soggy heavy wet covers do more harm. But I made an exception, and just put some old sheets and shade cloth over some. Well it rained for about an hour at dusk, by 2400 the skies cleared and the temp went down to 28. All my wet covers were frozen stiff, I lifted a pillowcase, and it could stand up by itself. I have some S. greggii in bloom and S. clevlandii seens to like the rain, S apiana appears to be ready to bolt.