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A Frosty Morn

October 19th, 2017

On Tuesday morning, we work up to our first frost of the season. It was 29 degrees in our garden, frost blanketed parts of the gardens and the lawn. All the tender vegetables and plants were hit, which is always a good thing in my mind.

At times, I have a difficult time clearing out plants that are still growing, blooming, and producing. Frost makes it easy to start clearing the garden, building compost piles, and getting on with putting the garden to bed for the winter.

Yesterday afternoon, I spent an hour or so clearing dahlias, tomatoes, peppers, nasturtiums, and all the other tender plants from the main garden. Today I’ll plant a cover crop in their stead, which should give it a bit of time to get established to cover the soil this winter. Luckily, there are still lost of crops in the garden that actually appreciate the cold weather. There is still broccoli, cauliflower, brussels sprouts, lettuce, spinach, and endive. We should be eating fresh vegetables from the garden for another month or two at least.

Frost used to be a bittersweet time in my mind, meaning the end of the gardening year, though now I’m learning to appreciate the part if plays in the cycle of the garden. I’m ready to hibernate for the winter, to a winter of sewing, crochet, and reading.

What’s happening in your garden weatherwise this week?

3 Comments to “A Frosty Morn”
  1. Sini K. on October 19, 2017 at 3:02 pm

    Susy, frost is a relief also here in Finland. It allows the mind to go to off season. Your garden has been so productive, I enjoy following the growth you have!

    Here, we are forecasted to have the first frost days tomorrow and over the weekend. So, it is about the same as you have.

    Have a nice rest of the week piling your compost and preparing for winter!

    Sini

    Reply to Sini K.'s comment

  2. Wendy on October 19, 2017 at 4:48 pm

    Yes….we had to buy a plane jane calendar last year ;). The kids missed your calendar! They always keep the old ones and cut out the photos.

    Wendy (Susy’s sister)

    Reply to Wendy's comment

  3. Nebraska Dave on October 20, 2017 at 9:29 am

    Susy, no frost here yet even though the traditional frost date of October 15th has passed. Still the temps are in the upper 70s during the day and middle 50s during the nights. I’m sure one day the unseasonably warm warm temperatures with flip to the cold and snowy Winter weather. I too have come to appreciate the rest and planning period of gardening.

    Have a great garden cleanup day.

    Reply to Nebraska Dave's comment

About

This is a daily journal of my efforts to cultivate a more simple life, through local eating, gardening and so many other things. We used to live in a small suburban neighborhood Ohio but moved to 153 acres in Liberty, Maine in 2012.

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