14 October - Hard Frost

Also known as "Killing Frost". We had snow on the 11th, and a very hard frost to go along with it. Some of these tomatoes are solid ice (I probably could have saved a couple by just throwing them into the freezer, but I didn't bother).


This is the labor-intensive time in the garden. Every dry day is another day to work on the general cleanup of debris from the season. As I've learned through making the wrong decisions - clean up all rotting tomatoes! The compost piles have been turned, and a new pile with this year's garden debris takes up an entire bin.

When we have several dry days in a row, I'll attempt to rake and shred leaves to use as winter mulch for carrots and parsnips. I should have enough carrots to last several months, and more than enough parsnips for the winter.

The pumpkins turned out a hit - I had 9 pumpkins of respectable size from the 2 vines. Most are ending up as halloween decorations, with some going to the relatives for jack-o-lanterns.

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