Okay, this is really starting to cheese me off.

Diane

Diane,

Join the club. Here in Love County we had plenty of days in Jan., Feb. and March that were in the upper 70s, 80s and 90s. Now that it is planting time, we keep going into the 20s and 30s at night. It is getting old!

Dawn

Ya know, sometimes I think having this back issue is really, literally, a pain, but with the way the weather has been so nutty, it's kept me from planting out anything not hardy enough to handle the recent freezes. Continuing to pot up indoors, but at this point, I'm running out of shelves and lights! But like Dawn, I've not even really considered putting anything out yet. I'm starting to think that if you garden here long enough, you start getting a 'feel' for when you can really plant out. Normally I would have several older seedlings in the ground already, but instead I'm kind of automatically potting up. DH questioned this the other day when I potted up nursery sized tomatoes again. I told him for some reason I felt like I just needed to go ahead and pot up because we're not finished with the freezes yet. He pointed out that we're not that far from Easter week, that he thought I'd be ready to go ahead and plant out and just cover them. LOL, he'd geared himself up to help me plant out this weekend!

I probably could and just make sure that I cover them, but I'm just not 'feeling' it yet. I'm sure they would be fine in the ground if I covered them, and they are getting large inside and I'm running out of space and lights, as mentioned. I'm sure the stuff going into the new raised beds would be happy outside... but something is just holding me back.

Kathy

Kathy,

Re: Your statement "I probably could and just make sure that I cover them, but I'm just not 'feeling it' yet." I totally agree. There have been years I have put tomato plants in the ground around March 9-10 and have had to cover them 2 or 3 times, but nothing major happened and they might have been fine even if I didn't cover them. This year, though, I have an "uneasy feeling" about the weather that I cannot explain, and I like your description of not 'feeling it' yet because that's exactly what is going on with me too. Maybe it is some sort of gardening ESP or gardening 'sixth sense' or just the common sense that you develop when gardening in a very erratic climate.

I don't know if my feelings this year are a "hangover" from the May 4th freeze last year (a likely possibility), or what. I am in the mood to garden, I love to garden, I HAVE to garden to stay sane, but I am not hurrying to put plants in the ground. Usually I have corn in the ground the last week in March, right after our March 27th "average last freeze date" and beans shortly thereafter, but I haven't even done that this year. Usually I have some warm-season annual flowers and some warm-season herbs in the ground by now, but I haven't done that either. I feel like I need to "wait" although I can't even say where that feeling comes from.

We do have some very large grassfires in our area--one of them now in its sixth day of roaming and rambling and being put out and then reigniting later....and the air quality sucks. So, maybe I have been more inclined to stay inside and pot up because the air quality (smoke in the air) is so bad it makes my eyes water, it gives me a sinus-type headache, and it makes breathing difficult, and I don't even have any pre-existing respiratory issues--imagine how bad this air is for folks who do!

I've barely started any flower seeds at all inside, and usually I have lots of zinnias and nasturtiums, hollyhocks, nicotianas, etc. growing inside and ready to plant out any day now....yet, I haven't even started them yet. Of course, as long as the tomatoes and peppers are filling up the plant shelves and plant tables, you can't start much else.

After the cold nights pass this coming week, I'll re-evaluate and see how I feel. I've NEVER not had the tomato plants in the ground by Easter, so it is likely I'll start setting out transplants this week unless something tells me not to. I don't know if that "something" would be the long-term forecast, a gut feeling or what.

I know that every week we delay transplanting out our tomato plants, we are taking a chance. With the way our temps go from "too cold" to "too hot" almost overnight, earlier planting is obviously better....but riskier. I have noticed on the tomato-growing forum that even the gardeners in the Dallas-Fort Worth area and points south of there have been fretting about this past week's weather (most have plants in the ground and have been scrambling to protect them from the horrific winds and the cold nights) and the coming cold nights and wondering what the heck it all means......because even their tomato plants are off to a late start, and their nights warm up much more quickly than ours, so they need to have fruit set in May if they are going to have fruit set at all, while we can still get fruit set quite late into June.

I feel wishy-washy about planting out, and that's just not me. Sort of a "blah" thing. I think about it every day, but just can't seem to make myself do it. I hope that waiting is smart and pays off. I will say that the folks near me who already have plants in the ground here have been covering them up a lot and the plants don't seem to have grown at all since they went into the ground (although they may be making root growth), and they have taken a real beating from the wind.

I long for the good old days from the early 2000s when I could happily plant in early March and just not worry about it. The change these last 4 or 5 years to much more erratic April weather just baffles me.

I do hope your back injury doesn't impede your gardening too much, and hope the recovery continues to progress.

Dawn

Dawn,

I agree with you. I remember many years in Texas where I was more than easy planting out in early March and had wonderful yields! Even since I moved to OK, I've still had things in the ground or ready to go out right around Easter. I've got things ready, but every time I gather up the bratlings to help me set them out, something stops me. Then I decide to wait "a few more days". Everything's going out the week following Easter, though, otherwise nothing will have time to really take off to provide a good harvest.

As far as the back.. well, I'm going to have to have two surgeries. One on my chest that I'm not going to get into here, and a spinal fusion surgery on my lower back. That's why Cliff and the kids built me the raised veggie beds. They've said they will take care of the flower beds, since though they are raised, I'd have to be able to get up and down from the ground to tend them, which isn't going to be happening any time soon. The raised veggie beds are 18 inches off the ground and bordered by cinder blocks. I can now, and should be able after the surgery with the aid of a cane or a hand :), to get up and down from that height. The cinder blocks will have companion herbs and flowers in the holes about every third block. The others are topped so that I can sit and reach in. The beds are about 4 ft wide, so I can reach to the middle from either side. That way I can still play in the dirt without it being more painful now or disturbing the area where they will be doing the fusion after the surgery.

So, I'm going to be able to garden this year, and I know Cliff and the kids, even my grown-and-moved-out boys, will take really good care of my gardens. It's gonna be a sit and point situation. I sit and point like a Queen overseeing her castle grounds, and they do all the work! :)

Kathy

Kathy,

As the old saying goes...."It's Good To Be Queen!" I do hate that the back injury has turned into such an ordeal. When it first happened, I thought you'd be back to normal in no time......and I was wrong. You are lucky to have a sweet hubby and sweet boys who are willing and able to keep the gardening going for you.

I'm planting out on Wed. if the extended forecast looks good--cannot wait any longer. Tomorrow evening we'll be carrying in all the flats of plants on the screened-in back porch (tons of them) because we're expecting temps in the 20-25 degree range, which probably will be record lows for those dates, on early Mon and early Tues a.m. Unbelievable! The peaches and plums that are still (somehow) clinging to the trees will be gone, gone, gone after that. The hollyhocks are too big to cover and about to bloom, so we may lose them, or at least lose the blossoms.

Dawn

Just an update up here in the Panhandle. Supposed to be 22 tonight and 26 tomorrow. The only blooms that seem to have survived are the crapapple. The one I wish it would get. My apple tree has waited. It seems to wait till it is safe. The peaches are goners for sure. Some of my other trees had pretty blooms for 1-2 days then gone.
Yes I've been as slow as I've ever been this year. Guess after the last 3 I don't trust pushing it like I have in the past. Have lost very few but felt the cold sure set some back. Poor garlic tops have been froze several times. The first onions I put out look the best. The second set out of the same bunch just 3 days later look alive and that is all. Wind was 35-50 all day yesterday. Supposed to die down some tonight and be decent Tuesday. I've had old times say this weather pattern with the winds and warm/cold springs remind them of the 30's. I have put plants out here before by the 10th of April. Not this year. Mine won't even be ready till late April or early May. Was hoping to skip potting up on some but not sure that is going to happen either. Jay

Jay,

The "official" forecast for us is 33 tonight and 31 Tuesday night, but our local forecaster says the "usual cold spots" which includes us here along the river will be in the 20-25 degree range both nights. I still (after 4 freezing nights since they bloomed) have peaches on 2 trees and plums on 3 trees, but I don't think they'll survive these 2 nights.

Y'all have had much worse wind than we have, but then I guess you probably always do.

My onions are growing a little. Like yours, the ones planted first look the best and I suppose its because they got some good growth in before the cold returned. The second planting is just sitting there doing nothing. I'll cover them with hay and hope for the best.

I don't like hearing the comparison to the 1930s! I think one Dust Bowl era was enough. Something sure is going on with the weather, though, so at least it is nice to know what we can compare it to.

I had all my tomato plants out in the wind yesterday (it was in the 20s most of the day with an occasional gust in the 30s) and it beat them up good, but it also is toughening them up. The first round, which normally would be in the ground by now, has been potted up to large styrofoam cups and they are healthy and happy--but ready to go into the ground now. The second round is in smaller styrofoam cups and most of them are OK, but I've lost almost all of "Scarlet Red" to damping off. No others. Just them. If I lose the few remaining ones, I'll try again with those for a fall planting.

The third round has been slow to germinate and I am frustrated with them. I don't know what their problem is. I guess if the ones that haven't already germinated don't do so in a day or two, I'll try again. They're sort of "extras" that I just decided I wanted to try, so the world doesn't end if they are uncooperative.

The folks here who already have tomatoes, corn and beans in the ground are probably going to lose the young corn and beans, and I'd guess the tomatoes as well. Even when covered with 5-gallon buckets and blankets, it is hard to get them through nights in the 20s.

It has been very hard to refrain from planting early, but I'm glad I did. Hate, hate, hate getting the late start, knowing it will go from "too cold" to "too hot" in such a short period of time, but the weather is not leaving us any choice.

Dawn

Dawn,
I agree about the early start and going straight to summer and high temps. That is why the last few years for most of us in this area have been left with a fall harvest from Sept. 1st on. And the ones planted Labor Day do the best in that time frame. Of course I will put several out before. Also starting some direct sown in WOW's. Last year used plastic buckets with plastic over the top and they did the best of any of my plants. But even they haven't germinated yet.
The winds here like my BIL said last night aren't normal even for us. The last two years have been bad.
I used two seed starting mixes this year. I couldn't get either of the two I've use the last few years. So bought Miracle Grow seed starting mix and then one from a greenhouse where I used to buy one I liked. They have changed. The MG has worked well. Germination rates of 90% and up with only one no show so far out of 40 different tomato varieties. Waiting on a flat of peppers. The other commercial mix I had some reservations about when I opened it. So far very mixed results. Very fine and doesn't soak up water well. Afraid I will be replanting a few. Will replant the ones I really want this year and then grow the rest next. Learn every year. And when you think you have a program that works they discontinue what you were using. Keeps it interesting and can frustrate at times. I could tell by the lady at the greenhouse that something wasn't right. She has always in the past just told me what worked for her. This time she said Jay come back here and I'll show you the new mix and also the Fertllome I'm using some and let you decide. The Fertilome may of been better.
Hope everything survives this cold spell for everyone. And something tells me it isn't over yet. Funny how people change. Some of the men at work the last few years have been eager beavers and put things in way ahead of me and lost part or all of them. They have been asking me every week what I've done and none of them have anything in yet. The last 3 years have made believers even out of the hardest of heads here. Jay

Jay,

I hope the spring weather we've had the last few years is not "the new normal".

When I lived in Fort Worth (from birth until I moved here at the age of 39), we always had to plant really early--like in latest Feb. with some plant protection or early March without--in order to get fruit set before the summer heat arrived. Here in Oklahoma I was able to do that in the early 2000s, but it hasn't worked for me since 2006, I think. (sigh)

I am spoiled and am used to harvesting the first ripe tomatoes from plants in containers in April. They are planted in Feb. from store-bought transplants and I drag the containers into the well-insulated garage at night, and drag the back outside in the morning. Usually by about the fourth week in May I am harvesting the earliest tomatoes from plants in the ground that I planted in early March. The last few years, the early in-the-ground harvest is harder to achieve, although I still get early ripe ones from the containers in April. (Got three almost ripe Grape tomatoes on one plant now.)

Not having the plants in the ground is making me a crazy woman, but with temps the next two nights in the 20s, at least I'll be a crazy woman with living tomato plants on the light shelf in the plant room instead of dead plants in the ground. : )

Cold (for us) at 51 degrees and windy, though less windy here than most of the rest of the state. The milder wind (most of the time) down here in the Red River Valley almost makes up for the colder nights the microclimate gives us.

Today is a day to stay inside and curl up with a good book or something because the weather makes being outside pretty unpleasant. I've already been out taking care of the animals and putting some plants on the somewhat sheltered patio so they can have some sunlight, and we've run some errands....and the wind is most unpleasant. I'm going to hibernate for the rest of the day until it is time to carry the flats of plants upstairs to the guest room where they can ride out this cold spell in comfort.

Dawn

So should I worry about my cool weather plants like lettuce, cabbages, broccoli and the like? Should I take any precautions?

Buster,

It depends on how low your temps are going, whether you have a clear or cloudy night, whether you have wind or not, etc.

Most cool season crops can take some temperatures a little into the 20s, but may suffer damage from temperatures 25 or lower. Broccoli is usually OK at 26 or 28 but may start showing damage at 23 or 24 or 25. Assuming your cabbage has already been exposed to some low temps and is adequately hardened off, it may be able to handle 20-22 without damage. Lettuce, in general, cannot handle temps in the 20s although a few varieties will tolerate it a little.

If you can cover them up with a soft, fabric of some type--burlap, bedsheets, quilts, blankets, sleeping bags, etc. before dark (and hopefully after the wind has stopped blowing--if it stops blowing), they might keep it warm enough. Mulching with bark mulch, hay, straw, chopped/shredded leaves, etc. will help. If you are using a heavier covering, be sure it isn't so heavy that it breaks your young plants. When I have to protect lettuce and cole crops, I lay some tomato cages on their sides and drape the blankets over them to keep the weight off the young plants.

If your plants are well mulched and you cannot cover them with sheets or blankets, you can cover them with plastic buckets or even cardboard boxes if the wind lets up enough that the buckets and boxes won't blow away.

If you happen to save milk jugs or 2 liter bottles for any reason, drag them out now, fill them with hot water, and line them up in a row alongside your crops. As they cool tonight, they will release a little heat. That heat, in combination with covering the plants, may be enough to protect your plants from damage.

With weather this cold, there's a chance you'll lose anything that is in the ground--even the cool-season crops. If you go into the 20s potato foliage will be damaged and onions may suffer ill effects also. Potatoes that freeze usually regrow new foliage. Onions that suffer freeze damage may bolt if they are already larger than the diameter or a pencil, and sometimes they die if the freeze damage is severe.

If the night skies are clear and there is little wind, the chances of a killing frost are likely but freeze damage also can occur without a frost.

Spring weather like this is one reason that most of the space in my garden is devoted to warm-season crops--these late cold spells slow down the cool-season crops tremendously and then, in the blink of an eye, the weather is too hot for them to do well.

Do you know how cold it is forecast to be in your county tonight?

Dawn

I agree with Dawn. The problem I've had with my onions is keeping mulch on them with the 50 mph winds. I've had mulch blow off that I never have before. My garlic is deep enough it should be safe. Not much I can do about the onions. A week of warm weather and I'll be able to tell more. One row so far has looked good the other just never had a chance. But so far soil temps have held and that helps also.
I'll be heading out to do chores soon. May not even stop at the garden. I don't get as depressed that way. Jay

I don't have any veggies, but am covering my peonies tonight. Channel 5 just said our low is expected to be 31 with a 16-26 mph breeze, so not as bad as they're calling for on Monday night. If it gets down to 26 then with no breeze, I'm afraid I could lose plants with tender growth, like azaleas and hydrangeas. At least if the wind does stop blowing, my sheets and garbage bags won't blow off the plants!

I have one old-fashioned lilac that is a sprout off one that my mom brought from her home in Canada in the 1950s. I really worry about it, even though lilacs are pretty tough - it's the last one of hers still alive. It has some buds on it this year and I'll probably cover it tomorrow night, even though it's in a sheltered spot. Does anyone have experience with lilacs?

How about crepe myrles? Will they be permanently harmed if they have started to leaf out? I have watered everything pretty well this afternoon as a precaution. Anyone else braved the cold wind today for the sake of the garden?

I'm worried about my peonies too. Last week I was able to cover them with buckets, but they are too big now. I only draped one...I have a ton of them, scattered all over. I guess they will either be okay or I'll have no peonies this year :(

Lisa

I had to go to a fire and by the time I got home it was late (after 10 p.m.) and cold and I didn't even go throw hay on top of the onions and potatoes, so if they freeze tonight, they freeze. I just wasn't going to take a flashlight and go out and throw hay on top of stuff, even though the wind had finally died down enough that the hay probably would have stayed in place. Our bad night, like Mitch's, is tomorrow night though, and I will try to cover them up before tomorrow night. Luckily, I had time to carry in the flats of tomato plants and warm-season annual flowers while the big pot of chicken-tortilla soup for the firefighters was simmering on the stove. Amazingly (ha ha), as soon as all the plants were upstairs in the guest room/plant room, the soup was done and we were able to leave and take it to the fire.

Jay, the only way I've ever been able to keep hay or straw mulch on the beds with winds that high is to put down some sort of fencing material--either poultry wiring or woven wire fencing on top of the mulch and use long wire staples, pegs, or wood stakes to hold the wire fencing down. And, to do that, I have to have it in place before the wind arrives, so I usually only do it if the high winds are forecast and I actually have time to prepare.

I've been ignoring the garden too. It is so depressing seeing it sitting there looking so bare and fairly lifeless. Every time the cool season crops seem to be bouncing back from a cold night or hard wind and are starting to look decent again, then here comes another round of hard wind or very cold temperatures.

The peonies and lilacs might be OK. It is hard to guess. The crape myrtles may suffer some tip burn to the ends of the branches, but they'll bounce back just fine. My hollyhocks are in the same category with the peonies and lilacs--too large to cover and likely to be damaged.

I want our "regular" spring weather back, but I guess that's not gonna happen this year.

Still in the mid-40s here at 11 p.m. so I am hopeful we
might stay in the 30s tonight. Still have wind here too and, while it is complicating the firefighting efforts, it does make frost damage less likely. I hope the wind blows all night, at least for the garden's sake.

Dawn

It is 25 here this morning at 5:30 so sure as the sun rises will drop another degree or two before heading up. 50's today and 70's tomorrow.
Yes I thought about laying down some cattle panels I have with six inch openings. But could only cover one row and the wind never let up but for a few hours in almost five days. So by yourself hard to handle them and also hard to keep straw down. Even the mulch that I put down last summer and fall is now leaving. Had 5-6 inches in spots that are not bare. And it had even started rotting on the bottom and most was grass clipping or alfalfal which once attached will usually stay.
Beginning to second myself on starting so many plants the way the weather is. Jay

33' at 6am here this morning, thank you Lord.
Now, as for tonignt" I'd better get out there later and put some more straw around things as most of it blew of last night. and of course it's gonna be worse tonight were supposed to get 26'.
This is really getting exasperating, but I must remember it could be worse, and may yet LOL. Have a nice day.

Jay,

Your wind has been relentless this year, has it not?

It seems like we've had more winds in the 40s-50s-60s than usual this spring.

I hate that you're losing your mulch. That must be very frustrating.

For what it is worth, I am second-guessing myself on starting so many plants too, and hope the weather doesn't prevent them from surviving and, hopefully, thriving. I had to "guess" at seed-starting time whether I thought the drought would continue or not. While it has eased somewhat, it does continue. I guess I'll just plant, water as much as I can afford to, pray for more rain to fall, and hope for the best. I haven't started nearly as many flowers though. That way, I won't have to choose between watering the veggie garden or watering the flowers....because the flowers would lose. : )

Mitch,

Woo-hoo! Thirty-three is great. At our house, the wind stayed up and the temperatures did not even go as low as they said.....it only went to 34 here, and they had said 25 for low-lying areas like ours. That gives me hope that we won't hit 20 tonight, although I have to assume we might and cover up everything accordingly. I know the wind really helped last night, because normally we have a frost at 34 and there was no frost here this morning--where the winds were blowing around 8-10-12 mph when I woke up. They must have blown enough all night to prevent the formation of frost. I hope they blow tonight.

I am keeping my fingers crossed. The fifteen-day forecast looks good for us after tonight, so I may finally be free to plant!

Dawn

Okiehobo,

Sorry, I called you Mitch and you're not Mitch. I got my "Okies" confused.

Dawn

I knew I felt me ears burning... lol

it got down to 29 here last night... cold and bitter... all my potatoes are now black - will the bottoms come back out and grow? Tonight I really worry about - might lose the peas... and I had one blooming last week- turnips, cabbage,and lettuce are all with row covers and should be fine - I hope.

I am sooo ready to plant - so maybe next week...

I got a little frost last night (MWC). I think it must have been colder in my yard than the 31 on TV because my hydrangeas got a little bitten. I've covered everything tonight - even my mom's lilac. It's sad, but I still had some dead limbs from the 2007 ice storm, so built(?) a frame over the lilac and laid a flannel sheet over it. Sure hope it doesn't get killed. Covered the peonies with tomato cages and leaf bags, which worked well, and everything else with misc flower pots. Good luck everyone!! Hope spring really arrives tomorrow!!

It's a good thing I checked this forum before bed tonight to see all the advice. It is supposed to get 27 here tonight, but right now it is about 45.

We slipped on shoes/slippers and coats, grabbed a bunch of old blankets, and ran outside to tuck in the kids for the night, as Dawn advised. Fortunately we only have two 4'X20' beds going right now, which means we had just enough blankets without having to go cold ourselves. And the moon was bright enough to light the way.

It was actually kind of fun. A small adventure in the cool night air, and our plants are a little more protected.

So, thanks, y'all!

Hope all survive the night. We are 36 right now. I decided I didn't cover anything last night so would just take a chance tonight. The wind has finally laid some. Got most of the crapapple blooms last night. Still a few that look ok. Was hoping for a total freeze out. Nipped the tops of the mustard weed. Onions still look alive. Will see what they do in a few weeks after it turns warm. Sure an odd winter. Was talking with my BIL who is a farmer tonight while eating supper. He said there has been several years in the past when either all or part of the corn was in by now. But the last few years has even slowed up the corn farmers. Many are saying probably another two weeks at the earliest. This odd weather is becoming a habit I don't like. Jay

Everything's covered up here by Claremore, can only hope for the best now. all i have outside are lettuce, onion, spinach,carrots, and broccoli, but this is my first year and the cold weather stuff is really just a dry run for the tomatoes and peppers hanging out in the front window (which I hope to be able to start hardening off later this week)...I'm glad I took everyone's advice and planted things out at the end of the OSU dates (slightly after, in a couple of cases). The wind, like everywhere else, has been *brutal*--actually snapped one of my broccoli plants and stripped several of the more leggy lettuces bare over the last couple of weeks. I'm debating building a hoop house frame around that bed for next year, for the windbreak as much as the insulation.

32 here now. May drop a few degrees as the sun rises. Had heard little wind today but can hear it now so will have to check the forecast. It dies down some for a few hours then kicks right back up. Even for here the last two years have been unusual. Supposed to be 75 so that will help. Jay

It was 33 here at 4:30, but then dropped to 25 by 6:30.

not optimistic

I covered about half of my peonies and my crinum. ....I don't know, they weren't looking too chipper this morning. The one peony with big fat buds that I did not cover because it was next to my house on the south side...I was hoping that would give it enough protection....I think it's a goner.

Everything else looked pretty good. This evening will tell me more.

Lisa

So far we win the prize.....and it is not a prize I want to win. Nineteen degrees here and I suspect my onions are probably dead even though I covered them up with hay quickly last night as I was leaving to take dinner to the firefighters. I didn't cover up anything else but all my tender seedlings and potted plants were either in the house or in the well-insulated barn/garage. I hope to carry the plants back out at mid-morning after it warms up, but whether or not I manage to depends on the fire activity.

Before I can spend time gardening, gotta run outside and feed all the animals, and then make a run to Sam's in Sherman to get several dozen cases of water and Gatorade and tons of food. It is taking a lot to keep our firefighters, now in their 8th day on this brushfire, fed and well-hydrated.

Mitch, usually potatoes will regrow from the tubers even if all the foliage is blackened and frozen. After last year's late freeze in May, it took mine at least 2 weeks to put out any new growth though, so you may have to wait a while to see the recovery.

I hope all the plants that were covered up made it through the cold in everyone's yards the last couple of nights.

Jay, if y'all are "late" with the corn that far north, imagine how my "old farmer" buddies who normally plant corn in March are feeling now.....everyone's going nuts! Now that a rapid warm-up is expected, let the planting games begin!

Scott, I'm not optimistic either. Know I'll lose the remaining fruit at 19 degrees. The native pecan trees haven't leafed out yet, but I bet they will soon.

I'm ready to plant anytime after today but the ongoing wildfire issues will dictate my schedule, unfortunately. I'm running out of creative cooking ideas for large crowds, too! On the other hand, hungry firefighters will eat anything you cook for them. Yesterday, I made 15-bean soup, cornbread muffins and mixed berry cobbler. Today I am so tired that they may get hot dogs and chips. :) I think one of the other wives is going to make chicken spaghetti today in anticipation of the FFs needing to be fed tonight, so that takes some of the workload off of me.

So far, our evil little fire has burned an area almost 6 miles long and 4 miles wide, but we've only lost a couple of houses and a few outbuildings. I need for these wildfires to stop so I can get back to my gardening. At least with a hard frost on the ground, we shouldn't have fire issues until the morning sun burns the frost off the grass.

Dawn

Looks like we "only" got down to 27 or so up in Green Country. The spinach, carrots and onion (all of which just sprouted late last week) seemed none the worse for wear when I uncovered. the broccoli looked a little nipped around the edges, but will know more after work. I'm pretty sure I'm going to lose at least one lettuce, maybe several. That said, I'm beginning to think gardening in Oklahoma's a bit like moving to New York--if you can grow stuff here you can make it anywhere! :-)

That said, Dawn's posts definitely keep me from stressing too much about losing a couple of salads! We're thinking of y'all down there...

Here in Tahlequah it was about 27 at my home, this morning. Last night I had to make a hospital call, and we've been pretty short on sleep. So, Jerreth and I didn't do nearly as much as we might otherwise have done. We've lost the fruit on our little dwarf pear tree, a week or two ago. We also lost the fruit on the smaller of our two peach trees in that same cold snap. The light bulb we used under the cover must not have been strong enough. So we covered our last peach tree and put a heat lamp under the tarp. I commented that these dozen or so fruit are going to be pretty expensive by the time we finally harvest them!

Our onions looked very good this morning and I didn't get to cover them at all. Incidentally, for those interested, we've grown potato onions in Northern Indiana, where winter temps reached down to -30 F. Potato onions, planted in the fall ALWAYS survived and thrived, even through early spring freezes. We never covered them. My potato onions are doing equally well here in Tahlequah.

George

Evening update: I don't see any losses...covered and uncovered, all seem to have survived. yay!!!!

Lisa

Same here--the ominously limp-looking lettuce perked up during the day, and several of the broccolis even sprouted new leaves while I was at work. Another potential gardening crisis averted! :-)