First Frost Countdown

How It Works

Knowing how many days you have left before frost helps you make smart decisions in late summer and fall. If you have 60 or more days, you can still plant fast crops for a fall harvest. If you have 30 days or fewer, it is time to focus on harvesting what you have and preparing your garden for winter. Green tomatoes picked before frost will slowly ripen indoors if you place them in a paper bag at room temperature. Hardy vegetables like kale, spinach, and carrots actually taste better after a light frost because cold temperatures cause them to convert starches to sugars.