Oops.

[errantember]

The Last Survivors!



So, despite the fact that, in Austin, we have *almost* no freezes during the year, the freezes we *do* have evidently still count. I personally think this is very unfair, except when it's conveniently killing fleas I haven't been able to exterminate any other way, because the amount of effort necessary to grow vegetables in a 365-day growing season is *WAY* less than in a 362 day growing season. The idea that some kind of random weather event can cause so much trouble when it happens so seldom does *not* sit well with me.

So, anyway, all five of my still-producing tomato plants were wiped out by two nights of sub-zero temperatures. These are all that are left. One new clone did survive, because of it's proximity to the soil, but likely I'm going to start over with better tomatoes anyway. The cherry tomatoes I got from Big Red Sun rocked, but the other two varieties were never all that vigorous.

My oranges and grapefruits are looking oranger and yellower all the time.

Comments

[terriblelynne.livejournal.com]

If you bring me green tomatoes, I can return fried green tomatoes to you. Just saying.

A tempting offer!

[errantember.livejournal.com]

I've never ha fried green tomatoes....

Re: A tempting offer!

[terriblelynne.livejournal.com]

Crazy tasty, let me tell ya...

mmm!

[bramblekite.livejournal.com]

I was just gonna say "Fried Green Tomatoes"!

Great minds think alike!

[comodulate.livejournal.com]

When I stayed at the hostel in the forest they had various books about gardening year round. I liked the idea of the wooden boxes with windows in the top and handles sitting on the ground with plants below them. Mostly though, I wanted to communicate that there are methods out there for dealing with occasional freezers that don't require monitoring the weather and babysitting the plants when needed.

That sounds like a workable idea.

[errantember.livejournal.com]

The simplest and cheapest method I'm aware of involves making a hoop-house out of PVC and covering it with garbage bags. The main drawback of my current setup is that it's too ghetto. The plants are irregular and the tomatoes had been allowed to grow all over the place, making them hard to cover. Keeping them more neatly tied to something with a predicable volume would really help.

[kitty-smack.livejournal.com]

For some odd reason, mine are mostly ok, just some peripheral damage. I didn't cover them or anything.

[errantember.livejournal.com]

That's good to hear.

You probably didn't get as much wind or something.