Do I need to cover these up?

[organic vic]

Hi everyone, Now that the moroccan air has stopped coming this way, I have had 3 nights of heavy ground frost and was wondering,as it is my first year properly growing, whether my brusells sprouts,PSB, winter caulis,broad beans and winter peas need covering with fleece or not? Thankjs in advance for any replies!

[SarzWix]

Your brassicas (brussels/PSB/caulis etc) should be absolutely fine with no fleece. I've never overwintered peas or beans (it's too wet here over winter), so I don't know about them, sorry.

[Alison]

So long as they're winter varieties they should be OK with the cold but may well suffer if it's cold, wet and windy at the same time. Then again, don't we all!

[sarraceniac]

Broad beans are usually pretty hardy so even in central Scotland I'd risk them. As Sarz says brassicas are fine but I'm afraid I can't help with peas either.

[Snadger]

If it was me, and speaking from past experience, the only crop of the ones mentioned that I would cover with fleece or better still a cloche for the winter would be the peas. The rest are usually as hard as nails!

[Pumpkin Becki]

I will hold my hand up and say I have fleeced my brassicas, but that is only to protect them from the local pigeon population, as I haven't got any net or mesh.

In my first year I put a cloche over my broad bean seeds, but in the unusually warm autumn we had, they got terribly leggy and suffered because of it. If you pick varieties that are known to be winter hardy (like Broad Bean Aquadulce Claudia), then you should be able to leave them with minimal protection.

[RobintheBobin]

Last winter my red bor kale went a bit mushy and floppy (a bit like veggies that get frozen by accident at the back of the fridge ) during the seriously cold bout of weather we had but even so I still probably wouldn't bother as they are supposed to be more hardcore than that

[gojiberry]

Just the peas need a bit of protection.

Ian