Only 11 days to Halloween but still time for a brief memorial to this year's garden.
Last night was our first frost here in southwestern Virginia. Temps were down to 32 and I could see my breath when I took the pups out around midnight. We moved all the delicate plants into the greenhouse and the garage, then brought the rest up under the carport, put sheets over the fountains and water plants, and picked the last tomatos on the vines.
The vines are still putting out yellow blossoms, and are heavy with little green tomatos. I picked the largest of those to fill this basket, and will set them out in the sun every afternoon while they work their way towards being red and juicy.
All the blueberry bushes are flame red now, the green peppers are covered at night since they produce best this time of year, and the Adam's Needle yuccas are covered in baby plants. Being high altitude plants, they must thrive in the cold nights and warm days.
Now - when I least need it - my rain barrels are full to the brim. Before we get a lasting hard freeze, I'll need to dump all that water so the barrels don't freeze and crack.
In a week or so, I'll sit down and write out notes on what worked this year and what didn't as well as seeing if I can come up with ideas on how to control wiregrass before it consumes my entire yard and garden, and possibly at some point my house. Then just after Christmas I can start planning next spring's garden and make lists of what to order and how to plant it for the best yield.
Next spring sounds so far away.
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Oh - fried green tomatoes!
ReplyDeleteIt was a toss -up between having fried green tomatos or the last of the red "real" ones. I'm experimenting this year, trying to keep some growing inside, but just in case, I went for the last of the red juicy ones.
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