December 1, 2009

I Should Have Known Better

For weeks now, I have been protectively covering my surviving tomato and green pepper plants every time the overnight forecast was for the low 30s. Last night? Oh, it was only supposed to get down to 36° F or so. No worry. It hasn't been getting as cold as they've been predicting. No need to cover them. Right? Wrong!

Wouldn't you know it, but in the wee hours of the morning we got our second frost of the season.

Frost bitten summer garden remainsI knew it was only a matter of time and that we should have gotten another frost before now. The tomato plant looks as though it might actually survive in spite of this frost. The pepper plant is totally wilted. Just to be on the safe side though ....

The very last of my tomatoes and green peppers... I picked all the last of my green tomatoes and peppers. Fortunately only the leaves of the plants were affected and the fruit seems just fine.

It's sad to see the end of my summer garden. Still, I'm thankful for everything I've gotten from it.

I Should Have Known Better photos & text copyright 


18 comments:

Nina said...

How wonderful that you got to harvest the last bit of veggies, despite being hit by frost. I think I'd love just waiting for the second frost of the year. We woke up this morning to snow! And so it starts.. at least the seed catalogues have starting arriving, so I can dream a bit.

Renee Nefe said...

I'm sorry you weren't able to keep those going a bit longer. My last tomatoes ripened up on the window sill nicely. I hope that the seeds were okay.

Randy said...

Leigh, I'm sorry your plants froze! I gave up on my summer garden quite a while ago!! It's frozen a few times here already - it's always so pretty to see the frost on the ground first thing in the morning, although I don't like the cold! ~Lynn

Robin said...

Hey, don't you know that it is December and your not supposed to have a summer garden any more? LOL Glad that it lasted as long as it did. I finally got around to cooking one of my Banana Pink Jumbo's down from my summer garden. I couldn't believe how much one squash produced as I got 7 quarts from it. I still have one more to cook and two pumpkins. Eeeks.

Leigh said...

Nina, I feel so fortunate. I was really worried that the frost had gotten the veggies too. Quite a relief to see that they were still okay!

Renee, it's nice you were able to get your last toms to ripen like that. Hopefully mine will too.

Lynn, I have to admit that this is the longest I've ever had a summer garden. I wonder if the plants would have survived if I'd covered them. But on the other hand, it's just that time of year.

Robin, 7 quarts from one squash!?!?! Wow! I should try to grow some of those. I love squash in pies, mashed, in pancakes, muffins, cakes, etc.

Benita said...

Well, rats! At least you can now start dreaming of next year's garden!

Life Looms Large said...

Those peppers look absolutely yummy!!

That is a nice, new, fall/winter photo in your header!!!

Sue

Woolly Bits said...

I have had to put away all my tomato plants a long time ago - not due to frost, but the blight always kills them. but I left the tomatoes on the old stalks and they ripened nicely (no green tomato chutney for me:)). I never keep seeds from the last fruits however, I always choose very ripe ones much earlier to make sure that the seeds ripen properly!

Julie said...

That is sad but as fast as time go's by it should be spring before we know it!

Leigh said...

Benita, I'm definitely working on the planning!

Thanks Sue!

Bettina, good advice about saving seed. Both my tomatoes and pepper plant were hybrids so I didn't plan to save seeds from these. Next year though .... heirlooms all the way!

Robin said...

Seriously, it was 7 quarts. I was shocked. This summer was the first time I tried growing Banana Pink Jumbo squash. I am definitely going to grow them again next year. This Saturday I am going to go down to my mom's and make a squash pie. I have never had one before.

Kathy said...

Fried green tomatoes!!! Yum! Yeah, I know...put them on a windowsill and they'll ripen, but c'mon - fried green tomatoes are so yummy!

Leigh said...

Robin, I'm definitely adding that to my list of things to plant. I usually stick to the most common types, but there's other good stuff out there!

Kathy, I've only made fried green tomatoes once in my life. I think Dan would prefer to let them ripen though. :)

Robin said...

This past summers garden was the biggest I have done since we had the space for it. So quite a few things I grew were new to me. My mom works at a seed company part time so she gets some seed perks. She is always trying something new along with keeping her old favorites. Now she is giddy that I am nearby so she can have me try out things for her that don't grow on her cold hillside.

Leigh said...

Robin, that is so neat! I couldn't imagine a better place to work. It's exciting that you get to share in the experiments. Even better because you blog about it so the rest of us can get ideas for things to try too!

Sharon said...

You have wonderful weather and it's so incongruous because this morning it was 15 when we got up. Gotta break the ice on the llama water!

Unknown said...

Harvest looks great! What kind of pepper is the big one on the left? I have been searching for a plant I had 2 years ago,prolific, but I forgot the name! Peto Wonder maybe??

Leigh said...

Rainbow Gardens I don't have a clue as to what the peppers are. I bought one plant at Lowes and misplaced the tag. All I remember is that it was a hybrid. Both peppers are from that same plant and we actually ate the last one on pizza tonight. :)