Jack Frost Pays a Visit

Hello country bumpkin, 
How's the frost out on the pumpkin,
I've seen some sights but man you're somethin', 
Where'd you come from country bumpkin.

                Cal Smith

   
     Clear skies and a low of 34 F degrees was predicted for both Thursday and Friday nights.  That meant prepare for the possibility of a light frost.  Friday morning at 7 AM it was 25 degrees, and the grass had a light coating of white.  I wasn't worried about the rest of the garden.  A light frost may kill the squash and pumpkin vines, but it won't damage the thick-skinned fruit.  It won't do anything to the cold weather crops like carrots, beets and so on, but it will destroy the tomatoes and peppers. So on Thursday afternoon I made the following preparations:

Low Tunnel

     The two low tunnel units I described in my last post (Click here for that post) were placed end to end over two 15-foot rows of my tomato patch, and covered with plastic sheeting.  The tomatoes inside can continue to grow and ripen for the next few weeks.  The ends may be easily opened during the day for air circulation.  On a warm day it can get quite hot under that plastic.

 

The Safety of the Porch and Garden House

Another box of green tomatoes below these two

    I harvested some of the ripe, almost ripe and green tomatoes and peppers, and put them in boxes on our enclosed porch, where they will slowly ripen.  They were covered with more newspaper after this photo was taken.

The opposite wall also has hanging tomato plants 

     Some of the other plants were pulled up by the roots and hung in the garden shed.  They will also slowly ripen.  It will be some time before it gets cold enough to freeze inside an enclosed building, but when that time comes, I'll move the ones that we haven't yet used to the root cellar in the basement.

Memories

     As I was sitting at the kitchen table this morning writing this post, Amber was playing old songs on her computer.  When she played "Hello Country Bumpkin" sung by Conway Twitty and Loretta Lynn, I had to stop and smile.  We didn't meet in a barroom as the song says, but we spent some time there.  It brought back many pleasant memories, and we're still continuing to make new memories for the years to come.  Click on the you-tube link below to hear that song, but be sure to continue making your new memories.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TmBAY3J9iQ8