Frost is in the air..

We may get a frost tonight.. of course, I haven't actually harvested and frozen the basil.. or picked the last few cukes and zucchini (still so many more coming!!). So, I ran up just before dark and tossed row covers over everything. Fingers crossed they don't blow away in the strong winds!! I typically end up with a few 'row cover ghosts' hanging from our trees at this time of the year. A reminder that I need to secure the covers with rocks or pins.

We've had 2 days of heavy, continuous rain. It began just as I was working in the garden on Monday. Some of my hardy Asian greens had reseeded in random spots, so I was digging up those precious seedlings and moving them to empty areas of the cold frames and garden beds that will be protected for a winter crop. I went out to check on them today - in between heavy rain showers - thinking that they would be crushed by the not-so-gentle transplanting (hurry, before the rain comes!!), but they are just fine.. In fact, they look like they're settling in well. I also moved a few mature curly parsley and thyme plants into the frames for winter seasonings. We love fresh parsley in soups and salads and it's so hardy that it can easily provide aromatic sprigs all winter long.

In celebration of the coming frost, I thought I'd post a few frosty photos from last October.. Frost makes all the hardy veggies look so pretty - from the red lettuces to the curly kales!

Plastic cloches are an easy way to protect individual baby lettuce heads.

Annapolis lettuce - one of the deepest red cultivars.

Frosted kale - take 1

Frosted kale - take 2

A quick peek in the cold frame.. hello 'Winter Density' lettuce and tatsoi.

Hello baby endive.. 

A quick floating row cover over the tall Italian parsley!

Frosted kale - take 3!! (My favourite kale and my favourite kale photo)

'Marathon' broccoli - so cold tolerant that we can harvest into January with mini hoop tunnels.