Warmer Temperatures Back

With the short frost gone and warmer temperatures back in swing my tomato plants are uncovered again and ready to keep producing.  There are several tomatoes still on the vine and although there was a slight bit of damage on some of the leaves for the most part the plants I was able to cover are doing great.

The parsley too seems to have grown significantly. Compared with the one on the outside it's almost twice as big.

No worries for at least a week and hopefully more. I left the stones out there for future use and folded the sheet up as well.

Tomato Protection

Made a protective cover for my tomato plants. I actually do have a greenhouse but these plants are in the ground and well established. Tonight is supposed to get into the mid to low 20's, no way they would survive without this.

What I did was get a medium thick sheet and put in stakes to support it over the plants. Sure some of the plants are hitting some of the sheet but for the most part they are pretty safe. The stems are hardier than the leaves anyway and with the warmth of the light in there they should be enough, with the small area, to keep warm overnight. I weighed the sides down with large concrete blocks.  Most of them took both hands to pick up and place carefully. There is also a parsley plant in there with them.

It;s supposed to freeze again Sunday through Tuesday next week so I will probably leave the sheet on until Wednesday and turn the light off during the day as long as it isn't supposed to be too cold during the day.

I used some of our parsley last week in my gumbo. Loved it!  Still have a few bowls left over in the freezer, one of the few really good freezer foods. Another of which is the muffins we made, fennel, fig, and chocolate. We made a lot of them about two years ago and I popped one out yesterday to thaw for a couple hours.  Almost just like we had made them that day.

October Planting

October is a busy time of year for gardeners. Now's the time to plant a whole lot of stuff including the beloved garlic, a must for tasty garlic mashed potatoes (which should have been started last month but there's still time).

Other tasty ideas for planting are:

Beets - Always a favorite year round and can be pickled or cooked fresh.
Lettuce - Fresh lettuce from the garden is a treat and although you will probably buy it from the store in the summer is a great winter veggie.
Parsley - Why do you think it's in so many soups and stews. This will keep your belly happy and the rest of you healthy.
Collards - A mess of these with some chopped onion and seasoned to taste.
Carrots - You can almost always grow some carrots.

If you have a favorite veggie let us know.