Killing Frost
Donna Young @ 9 November 2007
Filed in Categories: Garden Planning
http://donnayoung.org
The temperatures dipped below freezing a couple of nights ago. It was inevitable and it killed most of my garden plants. I chose 2 pepper plants and 1 tomato plant to save. I wrapped their cages with moving blankets and so far, they are still alive. That is one of the advantages of growing plants in sturdy cages.Before the first killing frost, I picked tomatoes from the doomed plants - the two tomato plants and one of the cherry tomato plants. This is what I have.
They are still in the basket because I have not had time to do anything with them. I've not had time because I have been drying mint, freezing bell peppers, cooking, cleaning, school, working on donnayoung.org, and
working on this new autumn blog theme. I will make time for the tomatoes today.Mint is hardier than the peppers and tomatoes, but I covered up one of the mint patches just to make certain that the plants would live. The day of the frost, I picked two batches of mint. The mint is important to us because Holly and I drink mint tea just about every day.
The picture below is the evening mint harvest. It was too much for my dehydrator so I stripped the leaves from the stems and dried the stems in the oven. Dried mint stems taste just like the leaves. I tested them first by making a pot of tea just from mint stems.
In the background you can see some of the bell peppers that I picked from the doomed pepper plants - I saved only two of the five pepper plants. The peppers are mostly green
but I put them in the freezer anyway.Other than the other things that I have been up to, this garden chore is another thing I have been doing. On the next almost warm day, I will need to clear out the garden - except for the saved plants of course - and get it ready for next year. I want to plant more herbs.
Happy Homeschooling (and gardening), Copyright © 2007 by Donna Young
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Some of the tomatoes will get prepared for freezing to make into fried green tomatoes. I`ve never done that, but since they can be purchased at the store, I know it can be done. I might make a green tomato pie, just haven`t decided on that yet. I did not get around to doing any of it today. I was tired and decided to do next to nothing.
The mint makes good tea after it is dried. I powder it with a large stone mortar and pestle before brewing it.
You sure have been busy. I have missed you.
Those grape tomatoes are so good. I grew two varieties and the ones shown in the image make tiny ones.. around the diameter of a finger nail. The other kind were larger, around an inch to inch and a quarter in diameter.
I have never heard of a chocolate green tomato cake.
The produce from your garden looks divine
The work I am doing on the site isn`t there yet. it is all on my computer still being worked out.