Walter Byrd

I am afraid that vinegar would take off the protective coating that I have been reading about.
A couple of years back, I had some go bad, while others stayed good until may. I thought I did not clean, well enough, the ones that went bad. But maybe it was just imperfection that I missed.
I stored them be wrapping in newspaper, and putting them in a cardboard box in my basement. Most of them did fairly well. But some went bad fairly quickly.

The squash has been on the ground for a long time.

Google is saying I should not even use water. Just brush it off with a dry cloth. Other sources suggest hydrogen peroxide, or even bleach, with water.

In my limited experience, it seemed to me that: if squash is not washed off, it tends to go bad faster. I don't think the bacteria comes off with a dry cloth.

Supposedly, if I wash the squash with water, I take off some protective layer.

Any thoughts?

I have letting wild sunflowers grow in my backyard to feed the birds. My wife calls it "the birds garden" because birds plant it, fertilize it, and then harvest and eat it.

According to what I have read, I could be planting sunchokes which would feed the birds, and feed me.

Planet A is a youtube channel that puts a video, usually, every Friday. The videos are about various environmental issues. As they put it:
> "Planet A explores the shift towards an eco-friendly world"
https://www.youtube.com/@DWPlanetA

Here is a 12 minute video they made about Permaculture, about 5 years ago:

Permaculture: Producing food without destroying the planet

Planet A
> "Planet A explores the shift towards an eco-friendly world"
https://www.youtube.com/@DWPlanetA

Planet A video that just came out:
The simple idea that could save our groundwater  



Playing For Change
> "created to inspire and connect the world through music, born from the shared belief that music has the power to break down boundaries and overcome distances between people."
https://www.youtube.com/@PlayingForChange

Playing For Change video that just came out:
With A Little Help From My Friends
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nrFdSqUCff8

Steve Mendez, your weather sounds like Denver.

We had a few late frosts, and snows, as well. The plants were still sprouts, at the time. So we went over and covered the sprouts with jars. I think we had to do that 3 times. For us, it worked very well.

BTW: highs are supposed to be 79F today. No freezes for the next ten days. So frustrating to lose so much because the temperature drops - just barely - below freezing for about an hour, then go right back to moderate weather.

I think I may have been semi-successful.

I covered butternut and sweet potatoes as best I could with old towels and so on.

Around 8AM, it was 40F, I took off the old towels, and sprayed with water to remove frost.

Some leaves look okay, so far. Some are turning black, I expect they will dye off.

I found a few cucumbers in the AM. I picked them and put them in water. I wonder if they will be alright?

Sweet potatoes I honestly wouldn't worry about, the soil does enough to protect the tubers. Butternut too. I'd just throw something over the tomatoes and call it a night.

I suspect the tubers and squash will be alright. But, I would like to keep the leaves from dying off. After the one freezing night, the nights will be in 40s and the days in 60s and 70. I would like to let things grow and/or ripen a little more, if I could.

I suspect it will only go below 32 for an hour or two. At worst it will hit 31. Some forecasts are saying 34. I also suspect the freeze will in the early morning 5AM to 6AM.

Denver in October. Usually, nights are in the 40s F. But just tonight (actually early tomorrow morning) the temperature dips below freezing, then goes right back to 40s at night. Also, there may be some rain off and on tonight and maybe tomorrow morning.

I have stuff that I would like to leave a little longer: sweet potatoes, butternut squash. I would like to leave tomatoes a little longer, I doubt that can happen.

If it wasn't for the rain, I would throw my old towels and t-shirts over the plants. But having them wet from rain might make it worse.

Any ideas?

Update: after checking weather again, I don't think there will be rain. I guess I will try covering with the old t-shirts and towels. Unless I shouldn't.

I think big corporations try to placate the public with simplistic, self serving "solutions" i.e.:

Don't worry about plastics, just recycle your water bottles, and everything will be fine.

All we need are electric cars and solar panels, and global warming will go away.

Those sorts of thing.
Don't get me wrong, recycling, electric cars, solar panels, wind turbines, and the like, all have their place. But if we are going to fix global environmental issues, we need more than that.