Statements of Fact

#1 - It has been snowing (mixed with rain) for the last hour and a half.

#2 - Evening temperatures below zero are forecast for the next 4 nights.

#3 - At the moment, this feels like a supremely shitty place to garden.


I spent much of yesterday and today harvesting what I could and trying to protect the rest.  I brought in the last zucchini, 3 cucumbers, 2 mini eggplants, and the handful of ripe tomatoes. I pulled up three varieties of dry bush beans (Black Coco, Beka Brown, and Molasses Face) that were mature and starting to dry, and have hung them in the plant room and laundry room.  The other two varieties (Vermont Cranberry and Canadian Wild Goose) are not yet mature enough to pick and dry indoors, so we'll see how they have fared at the end of this week.  I also dug up a few Golden and Detroit Red beets, planted them in buckets, and brought them inside.  I'll replant them outdoors in the Spring.  Hopefully, they will produce lots of seed for me to use and trade.

Early this afternoon, when it was raining and the temperature started to drop, I - perhaps stupidly - dragged in the three determinate tomato plants I had growing in large pots.  R. is in Nanaimo for a week (I'll bet it's not snowing there today...) so it was down to me to lug anything I wanted to protect inside.  I will know within a few hours what effect that move has had on my back.  *cue ominous organ music*

I headed out around 4:30pm to start covering what I could with sheets, pillow cases, and floating row cover.  It's a good thing I did.  Within 5 minutes, the wind picked up and it started to snow.  I quickly picked two buckets of green tomatoes, left a bunch on the plants with fingers crossed they'll get through the next few cool nights, and covered the plants.  The floating row cover on the raised beds along the driveway kept blowing off.  Karl found that exciting and dove underneath it when it blew onto the ground, tunneling his way from one end to the other before sprinting full speed up the driveway.  There he sat under a tree, out of the rain, watching me attempt to save a bunch of cherry tomato plants, an eggplant (give it up, Dawn...), and a few peppers.

Karl followed me inside when I was finished.  He is sleeping on a towel on the sofa.  My knees and back are aching and I'm still drying off.  I think a mug of hot cocoa and the liberal application of Icy Hot Rub are in order.

Here is the (crowded) plant room, with two Eva Purple Ball tomatoes, one Yellow Taxi tomato, and beans in pop flats and hanging from the ceiling.