Quick Harvest Before Frost!

As I mentioned last week, it is the time of year that we bring in as much as we can harvest - from the fields if we are farmers - from the garden, if we are gardeners.

I was paying attention to weather forecasts to be on guard for when there might be a frost overnight. That happened on Thursday.

So after supper I went out and worked hard to bring in all the tomatoes, green or not, the last few cucumbers, and all 12 of my watermelons! Oh, and the two pumpkins left in the patch.

Then I realized that my aloe vera plants in the front porch would freeze, so I spread newspapers and flyers just inside the inner door and in front of my desks. 16 good-sized plants and the hanging impatiens from outside the front door.

It was interesting to look around in the garden the next day and see that the sunflowers seemed to have survived the best. Their leaves hung down limp, but the flowers were still sunny and looking up at the sun. Most of the rest of the plants had turned grey, brittle in the leaves, or limp. Same thing with the Zinnia leaves. Most of the flowers are still facing upward, but some are hanging their heads. I snipped off still more of those dead flowers to harvest the seeds out of them for next year.

The beets, being underground, are okay. But that is the only crop left to bring in yet. About 2 buckets full.

As for the aloe vera... I rescued the in time and the night time temperatures have been above zero since Thursday but I don't know how long until the next time, so I need to prepare for my aloe vera plant sale real soon, as I don't want to keep lugging them in and then out again.

Oh, and guess what. I tried a small watermelon on Saturday for lunch, and it was nice and sweet. I had another one yesterday. YES! Really sweet and delicious!

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