In this video I walk you through what to do when a frost or a real freeze shows up right after you’ve planted cool weather crops—like lettuce, spinach, kale, collards, peas, radishes, brassicas, beets, and turnips. I’m filming on March 18th after about a 12-hour stretch below freezing, with temps down around 24°F (-4.4°C). The ground froze solid, the plants froze solid, and this is exactly when people start to panic. My advice is simple: for cool season vegetables, the best “one thing” you can do is… nothing. Cool weather crop leaves can freeze and thaw without the plant cells getting wrecked, so they bounce right back once the sun and warmer temps return. I show examples in my unheated greenhouse and outside in beds and vertical planters—some outer leaves may look beat up, but the centers stay fine and the plants keep growing. If you want peace of mind when it’s dropping into the low 20s again, you can toss a blanket over in-ground crops, but most of the time these plants are built for frost and freeze. I also share why spinach is one of the best overwintering crops (mine was planted October 23rd) and what to watch for—like peas being fine until flowers/pods get hit.