Three nights in a row we were under a frost advisory for our area. The first two nights, we got down to 30 F, but, fortunately, it must not have been for long because the only damage was some burning on the squash and pumpkin leaves. The tomatoes, field peppers, corn, and potatoes were unaffected to a large part. Last night was the last night for the advisory. Fortunately, we only saw a low of 39. Whew! As we have way too much to even think about covering, all we could do is pray.
Yesterday, I seeded out another big batch of tomatoes, with the seeds in coffee mugs on the counter fermenting and the leftovers tomato parts in the oven, in a roasting pan. I’ll turn these into plain tomato sauce.
On Saturday, I canned up 12 quarts of chili from the last bunch of tomatoes I’d seeded plus garlic and peppers. One didn’t seal as some bit of something got under the seal. Darn, we had to eat it for dinner! As the high yesterday was only 45, it sure felt good going down.
We have a lot of ripe pumpkins in the North Garden. Today the girls at the Watering Can greenhouse in Cook called to see if they could come out and pick some. By 11, we were out loading nice orange pumpkins into their pickup. It’s always so much fun picking pumpkins! I’d grow them even if we didn’t sell them. I just love pumpkins!
— Jackie
Thank God for answered prayers.
Glad to hear that the freeze didn’t do major damage in your gardens. You posted on the 8th, my birthday, but we busy down in Salt Lake City with appointments for my husband at the VA there. Long drive both ways. So I am just now catching up on mail. We hit a thrift store called Desert Industries leaving SLC. Place has great prices, most things under 5 dollars, I bought some plastic drawers and other organizational stuff for the house. I found a lovely coat my size, favorite color and wool for 10 dollars. Amazing place! Well worth the effort. Even if I was suddenly wealthy I would still go to there. We try to go to those stores in Utah any time we’re there. Mostly buying for the house.
We’re trying to get ready for winter here. We need to go get firewood. This winter is supposed to be a hard one. Take care Cat 😺
Hi, Jackie,
All of a sudden, far north California has been inundated in thunderstorms starting in September. We’re at the very top of the Sacramento valley; in the foot hills, so surrounded by mountain ranges, except for south, where we we the valley and town of Redding. Our mountain top is usually between 5 to 20 degrees higher temp than in the valley. We haven’t had a frost in years.
Here in Copper Basin Alaska we still haven’t had a significant frost. It hit 32 one night just before dawn but no damage. Highs in last couple days in 50’s so I have a fire in the green house because the cloud cover ment no solar heating. Working on getting all the wood we have yarded up into the wood shed
Yep, we still have to get a lot of firewood inside. We’ve just been doing seed saving, hay equipment repair and pulling in mature veggies.
Chili, always good in frost warning. Simply awful one didn’t seal just in time for the frost warning:). Finally got a batch of cowboy candy done! Darn one didn’t seal just; had to sample…. Now it’s tomatoes! Least pantries are filling up for some of us Lord willing more than less. Weeds are definitely not on strike in both of our gardens. Darn. The Hopi squash are ENORMOUS! First year growing them. Can’t wait to try them out in recipes! Hope Will gets all his hay in! So many of us reading your blog as our produce cooks:)
Happy processing!
We’re just so thankful we have produce to cook!! It seems like a lot of our stuff is very big this year. Not as many as usual but bigger. Strange. I hope you love your Hopis like we do.
Interesting! Bigger.. fewer’ I’m betting on Loving the Hopi!
Thank you Jesus for sparing this food!!!
Amen Nancy!!! Boy are we thankful!!
So glad you missed a hard freeze! Cool and rainy here in east Nebraska, lows have been in the 40s. Tomatoes are late here too, there’s a pot of them on the stove now cooking down for canning. A dear neighbor gave me pears, did those this morning. We’re still getting a few fresh beans for the table & have plenty in the freezer. Even in this crazy weather year, God is Good and provides! Peace to all.
Yes He is! I’m constantly amazed at how much we end up harvesting on even this, our worst gardening year for 15 years. We’ve hit a warm-up and are so very thankful. It will hurry those late crops toward maturity.
Hi, Vickie, from far north California. We have a fan stil pear tree, and fortunately the bear, squirrels, and deer just were not around to strip it. I hated waiting, because I thought the animals would do their thing. I waited until Sept. to harvest, and there was a lot. I canned a dozen quarts. Fan stils become mealy when lightly yellow. So processing at the right time is difficult to ascertain. I picked mine at the time when I lifted them up they would easily pop off the tree. Then I combine them in a five gallon bucket with ripe apples so that the apple’s outgasing would gradually ripen them until almost yellow, and you could smell that marvelous scent!
When I saw the long term forecast on Ryan Hall’s You Tube channel, I thought about you two and all those gardens and the chance of frost, so a few prayers went out from Ohio for you for the next few nights. I’m in south central Ohio and we had 2 frost alerts but it didn’t get quite as low as they forecasted and we lucked out. It has been very dry here this year. We had great sweet corn and onions and potatoes and lots of tomatoes but most of them green so far.
The new strawberry beds that I put in did really well. Although the plants I got weren’t as healthy looking, they perked right up and filled the 4 x 8 ft metal raised beds in no time. This time I got ever bearing and we got a few during a very hot 3 week period, so I’m hoping for a fantastic crop come next summer. The chili sounds good, even in Aug/Sept this year. Take care and I’m wishing you a great harvest.
Thank you Sherrie! Your prayers sure worked miracles as we had two nights of 30 and no big damage. Our neighbor 2 miles away had bad frost though. Whew!!! I love hearing what folks all across the BHM world are doing in their gardens.
I know the weather has been colder than normal at night. I’m happy to hear that your gardens survived!
Fortunately, all of our tomatoes are producing like crazy although much later than normal. I did pull in three more crates, some green, some turning and some mature. Just in case. But we’re warming up so that’s going to ripen a lot of tomatoes soon.
And I read a meme that said “Mother Nature just be throwing out temperatures like Power Ball numbers”. At times there is a bit of truth to that.
Yes, I feel like that too. Wow!!
Was wondering how your new garden did after all the work you described last some. Beautiful daisies.
It is nice but, like everything else, pretty weedy. But, there’s always next year.
Next year may be a year of no garden for me. Hubby would like to travel, and also my garden may need a rest. I think it needs re-mineralization, it’s production was so poor this year, even after rotation. The cucumbers were all bitter, the yellow squash produced one, the zucchini produced a couple, the crenshaws, 2, and no beans yet. That’s my row garden. My minibeds are not much better. Took 5 sowings to get the squash up, the okra up. My bell peppers are a year old, and have given me 4 peppers. The tomatoes vary from a few doing well, and the rest barely surviving right next to them! The sweet potatoes took months to come up. I don’t get it.
Tis a dicey time of the year temperature wise. I’m pulling the cuke, likely both zuke, one a slicer tomato plant (hardly any tomatoes left on it), and all the paste tomato plants. I’m not happy about the Miracle Grow for tomatoes that was applied not once but twice. Slicing tomatoes weren’t really affected but it really messed up the paste tomatoes. Right now I’m thinking a few potatoes plants instead of paste tomatoes.
Will feel out my dad re: a potato patch at his place next year.