Call Any Vegetable

Tonight was last call for many of the frost-tender crops, as tonight marks Fall's first "frost advisory" for outlaying areas, with a forcast overnight low of 37 degrees. Remembering what happened the last time there was a forcast low of 37 degrees, I thought it best to err on the side of caution and haul in every tomato, green or otherwise, and eggplant, pepper, swiss chard, beans, okra, and I also gathered all the winter squash to spend a cozy night in the wheelbarrow in the garage. I probably could have left the squash outside without much damage, but they store much longer if they're not exposed to frost first. Noticing that the long term forcast has about 2 more good weeks after tonight's frost, I thought it wouldn't hurt to cover the pepper and eggplant beds with plastic, to try to force a few more weeks of production. The tomatoes are probably done for though, as there is no easy way to cover the seven-foot-tall trellises. Looks like I'll be spending good portion of tomorrow afternoon blanching and freezing. I need an appropriate soundtrack for such work.

What a Difference a Month Makes

You all remember that dreadful morning when I woke up to a frozen garden and lost most of my tomatoes which had been planted out less than a week?

Here is how the White Beauty tomato looked that day. I left it in the ground, because it had one leaf that was not dead.


Can you believe that this is the same plant 4 weeks later. No sign of flower buds yet, but I'm not complaining.

Same with this Bolivian Rainbow pepper, it was the only seedling of this type I had, turned to total goo.

It looked very dead for quite awhile, but it is now leafing out! It's only 3 inches tall but I am overjoyed. Peppers are tropical perennials, you know. Come October, this plant will be overwintering in my finest pot, front and center in the dining room window.

Mr. Casper with frozen bud...

...now looks lush and healthy.

New developments in the garden:

Little Wonder peas planted way too late are slowly coming along.

These below are an unnamed blue-podded variety with brown-skinned peas:

And these below were planted from a bag of yellow split peas from the supermarket. I separated out a handful of pea halves that seemed to have enough of the germ still attached, and planted out the ones that germinated. Cool, free seeds. Compared to the two garden varieties above, the leaves on these are much smaller.

Also, get a load of those wacky tendrils! They should market this and call it "Medusa".

Love the diversity in garden peas. While we're at it, note the diversity in tomato blossoms:

Matt's Wild Cherry tomato above, and a Black Sea Man below.

By the way, we ate the first tomato yesterday for dinner. Boy it was good.

Cucurbits on Standby

Now that the last of the tomato plants that weren't killed last Monday are looking completely dead from the past two nights of major frost, it is time to move on to see what else I can kill. I did learn some valuable lessons from these late frosts, don't get me wrong. First, that I should always subtract 5 degrees from any AccuWeather overnight low forecast for my zip code, to get the *actual* overnight low air temperature for my backyard (or maybe I should just follow their Ann Arbor forcast). Secondly, using upside-down plastic flower pots as a frost protection does NOT work in the least, but using old plastic sheeting that new mattresses are packaged in propped up by old lilac branches and held in place by any available weighted object, I was surprised to find actually does keep eggplant seedlings from freezing solid on a May 17 Michigan frost. Thirdly, that I am now more determined than ever to find a way to rip out those stupid bushes along the south wall of the house and use that sheltered yet sunny area for tomatoes and tender veggies next year.

I have a healthy flat and a half of various cucumbers, squashes and melons nicely sprouted in their peat pots, ready for transplanting. I want to do it this week, but looking at the 15 day forecast, about every 4th day there are forcasted overnight temperatures in the low 4o's. What to do...I think I'll put down clear plastic to warm the soil for a few days, hold my breath, and then plant them out. Looking at the roots growing through the pots, I'd think that they are more ready for planting out than I am. Just a few more days, guys!

What stupid looks like

No Bolivian Rainbow peppers this year, likewise for the Danubiana eggplant we are 0 for 3 ---both varieties are in the seed trials...Sory Dave!

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This Casper eggplant was getting ready to flower...see the bud? I planted its seed in February.

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9 out of 10 tomatoes in this bed bit the dust, except for this lone Green Giant, which was oddly unscathed.

A glimmer of hope: Instead of pulling these up right away, I think I'll leave this White Beauty and Green Zebra in the ground... maybe they will regenerate from that last sucker branch near the ground that is without damage. Maybe they might even set fruit???

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And this Sweet Cream pepper, another of Dave's trial varieties appeared to have almost no damage. Surprisingly, the peppers fared much better than the tom's and eggplants.

Well, let's try to turn this into something positive for the future. The obvious new rule of thumb: "Cover the plants whenever the forcast overnight low is 40 degrees or less, no matter what." Aside from that, hopefully the seed saved from the plants that didn't die will inherit the hardiness of the parent, and I will be on my way to developing my own frost-resistant tomato strains. There. I feel better already.

Mostly Frozen

The weather forcast last night was for 37 degrees, with a "frost advisory" in low-laying areas. I did not think too much of it, because in my own past gardening experience, a forcast like that had never been a major problem. However, this new house must be in a microclimate because this morning all the peppers, eggplants and most of the tomato plants I planted out last week were not just frosted, but frozen solid! I couldn't believe it. The garden hose even had ice in it! It looks like a complete loss. I am devastated, because those plants are unusual heirloom varieties I nurtured from seed since mid-March, and I don't have extra seedlings for most of them. I'm afraid to go back outside to look at the damage....
I'm kicking myself because I have enough plastic sheeting downstairs to have made nice cozy tents over all those beds...why didn't I? I've got no one to blame but myself.
The extra plants still sitting in flats on the porch are fine though.
I'm so glad I did not plant out the squash, melons and beans yet.