September 20, 2011

Not Giving Up

My current list of things to do is about 3 miles long, and blogging is not on it. I checked.

But despite the piles on the counter, the piles on the table, and piles on my desk, here I am. I'm letting myself be okay with this because there's freshly picked, sliced and blanched carrots in the freezer, the second batch of veggies on the dehydrator in 24 hours, and canned pints of beets sealing as we speak.

It's obvious that our garden is behind by at least a few weeks, and I'm pretty certain that my 14 tomato plants this year have yielded the same amount that my 6 tomato plants did last year. All of this was made especially notable when last week's forcasted low was 26 degrees, an unseasonable low for us. I spent two evenings covering many square feet with every blanket and sheet I could get my hands on. I even went as far as pulling good sheets and blankets out of the house and going to the thrift store to buy more. (It's just a good thing I don't live near this one or there would have been a cat fight near the big shelf on the west wall.)

The kids and I harvested as many beets, carrots, and potatoes that we could that afternoon before I broke our pitch fork (Our soil is that hard right now.) And then I set out to put together the puzzle of blankets and sheets in such a way as to cover as much as possible.
With nearly 2000 square feet of total garden space, not counting the utter failure of a pumpkin patch, I still had to be choosy about what I wanted to save. Tomatoes and peppers were top priority along with a few flowers. I am beginning to feel ready for the gardening season to end - but not prematurely. I'm not giving up until we're all good and ready here.
The dog had to spend that night in the house otherwise she would have pulled all the blankets off my plants. When the alarm buzzed the next morning just before sunrise, I had no problems jumping right out of bed. I was eager to survey to the damage.



Everything I covered survived with just a few frozen leaves here and there. A few hardier plants pulled through with no covering at all, but everything else was done for.



Even with a smaller harvest than expected and an early frost, I've still got piles of produce waiting to be frozen, canned, or dehydrated that are stacking up quicker than the piles of produce that have been frozen, canned, or dehydrated.

But I'm not giving up. Not just yet.


Linking up to KinderGARDENS.

6 comments:

Jess said...

So glad to hear your covered items made it safely through. Ours, on the other hand, did not. (Boohoomoomoo)

I had to laugh at the thought of you setting an alarm. My Bean is that for me. ;)

Kelly said...

I am glad you are not giving up...I have given up...my garden looks like crap and I am pulling it out when the rain stops. No salsa for us this year!
I love your pics! They are so beautiful! You are great at capturing every aspect of your life! I would love to be better at that! The last sunflower pic is gorgeous! Nothing better to brighten a day with a vase of sunflowers! Amazing!

Unknown said...

Beautiful pictures. Glad your covered items made it. We haven't had a hard freeze yet, but I know it's coming.

Amanda said...

Love this post! Beautiful photos. This time of the year is so hard. I hear ya!

Lisa said...

Hmm, not sure why my comment showed up as anonymous, but it's from Lisa. :)

Lisa said...

Now my comment disappeared altogether? Anyhow, love the photos, and love that you also covered your veggies w/ whatever blankets and sheets you could find!