Overnight, we raised 6% of our fundraising goal for the Napa County Seed Library. Thank you! Yesterday was the International Day of Giving and your contributions are always welcome. Please consider continuing your support by donating if you haven’t already. Use the links below to go directly to our GoFundMe.

To support new and experienced gardeners in 2025 to learn how to plant, save, and share locally grown seed, we need your participation. If each of our subscribers donates $9.00 today, we’ll reach our goal by tomorrow. Give what you can –no matter how small or large the amount– we appreciate you!

https://gofund.me/54f2ac2b

To learn more about our mission, events, and how to contribute, visit our website at:

https://napacoseedlibrary.org.

-Lauren, co-founder, Napa County Seed Library
(Thanks to the Arts Council Napa Valley for inspiration on this post!)

Today we’re smiling and hopeful in anticipation of GivingTuesday. We’re launching a GoFundMe campaign tomorrow to raise $3,500 for our local seed exchanges, skill shares, and activities for 2025. No matter how small or large the amount–we appreciate your support!

// // Hoy estamos sonrientes y esperanzados a la espera del GivingTuesday. Hemos lanzado una campaña en GoFundMe para recaudar 3.500 dólares para nuestros intercambios locales de semillas, habilidades compartidas y actividades para 2025. No importa lo pequeña o grande que sea la cantidad: ¡apreciamos tu apoyo!

Donate // donar: https://gofund.me/54f2ac2b

-the Team at the Napa County Seed Library

In December, we also experience a significant chill in the air and see our first frosts. Temperatures are now dipping to near freezing a night, triggering a light freeze or hoar frost that could damage delicate plants. If you got garlic and wildflowers in the ground already, you’re golden: these and other plants benefit from cold stratification during winter—they need a period of time buried in cold soil during winter so they pop up easily as the soil warms through the wet season into spring.

You may be asking: How does the rainy, colder winter season affect ornamental plants and veggies? Which ones are cold tolerant, and how can you protect those that aren’t? Let’s review:

Depending on what you planted, any temperature extremes inhibit plant growth. Temperatures between 36 and 32 degrees F warrant a frost advisory, and three specific ranges of temperatures have different effects on outdoor plants.

* Light freeze: 29-32 degrees F – Kills tender plants.
* Moderate freeze: 25-28 degrees F – Destructive to most types of vegetation.
* Severe freeze: 24 degrees F and below – Most plants severely damaged or destroyed.

~~~

Ways to protect outdoor plants during winter in zone 9b are with a good 2- to 4-inch layer of mulch to cover the soil around the plant base like straw, wood chips, or leaves. Mulch suppresses weeds, enriches the soil with nutrients, regulates soil temperature, improves moisture retention, prevents soil erosion. In essence, mulch suppresses the growth of unwanted weeds while enriching the soil, allowing plants to thrive.

You can also protect them with coverings like burlap, fleece, bed sheets, tarps, drop cloths, bubble wrap, or a string of lights. Use a cold frame If you have one: it’s a portable mini greenhouse to winterize your plants. Improvise by making a temporary cover like a cloche using a clear plastic dome. Recycle large gallon bottles for this hack.

Be sure to secure all coverings but not so tightly that they squish plants; allow them room to fan out as they would naturally if unprotected.

You’ll know if frost killed your plants when they look wilted then turn black or brown and eventually dry out. They’ll eventually become brittle because the roots don’t take up water any longer.

If you’re in doubt, or don’t want to get caught by a late season frost – the best option is to take a little time to protect your plants using the methods above. Here’s a list of sensitive and hardy outdoor plants that you’ll want to watch this winter.

Cold sensitive plants
apple, avocado, canna, citrus, dahlia, gladiola, marigold, petunia, strawberry

Cold hardy plants
Brassicas (kale, broccoli, cabbage, chard, etc.), Brussels sprout, carrots, candy stripe flax, evergreens (pines, etc.), lily of the valley, pansy, parsnip, peony, potato, radish, Sedum, Siberian iris, spinach, turnip

Finally, remember, resist the urge to speed up this winter. Instead, observe, reflect, and slow down.

Lauren Buffaloe–Muscatine

Sources:
https://planthardiness.ars.usda.gov/
https://audreyslittlefarm.com/zone-9b-vegetable-planting-guide/
https://takeayard.com/plants-survive-frost/
https://www.thespruce.com/protecting-plants-from-frost-5209220