Remember how I mentioned it was supposed to get right around freezing temperatures last weekend? It did, but I was so busy and exhausted from surgeries and sick kids and a guest that I just did not have it in me to fuss around with sheets and things to cover plants.
So the plants were left to their own devices. It never froze hard, but there was a little frost that settled right on the top of the plants. This meant pretty much the end for all the vined things.
Droopy calabaza.
Droopy squash.
The basil, which was planted right next to the house and therefore had some protection from the wall and eaves, survived with just a few leaves frosted, so I harvested most of it and made pesto. I ended up with ten cubes of pesto (I freeze it in ice cube trays), which is going to be the totality of the pesto to come out of the garden this year. Better than nothing, I guess. Which is pretty much my motto for this year.
Anyway.
The tomatoes also mostly survived, because they were so bushy that the top layers protected the bottom ones.
Frosted leaves on top . . .
But green underneath.
There were lots of tomatoes hiding under the foliage, and this week is supposed to be quite warm with no frost, so I have hopes for some ripening on the vines.
The remaining calendula plant doesn't mind the frost at all, and is very happy that the grasshoppers have been driven away by the cool weather.
Happy calendula.
We can have a hard frost at any time at this point in the year, so this might be the last week the plants have to produce anything. Fingers crossed, mostly for the tomatoes.
Tell me, my fellow gardeners: Is your garden still growing, or is your garden year at an end?
* It's a song. And here it is. I just love YouTube.
I'm living in Groton, NY now. Gardening in pots off my patio. no frost yet, but forcast for Sun and Mon are for 34 and 33 F. Still have basil plant and beets growing. also an assortment of herbs. Basil will be gone unless I bring the pot inside.
ReplyDeleteToday I had my son bring in the last pumpkins. He even brought in a green one and begged for me to make green pumpkin pie like Ma does out on the prairie (Long Winter?). I haven't; I might-- if I get around to it. He also brought in an oddly shaped zucchini. I didn't ask about the peppers or tomatoes. But I am so over the peppers. We just don't eat that many. Other than a stray tomato or pepper, I think we're done.
ReplyDelete"Hello, Country Bumpkin, is the frost out on the pumpkin?"
ReplyDeleteAlways liked that song. . . thanks for the memory and the link to it.