Two Nights of Frost...Survived

Waldo being silly.

Nothing escapes Luther's notice.

Just hangin' out.

Channel 8's meteorologist predicted possible frost these past two nights, so I covered up all the vegetable seedlings (lettuce, potatoes and squashes) with an assortment of buckets, flowerpots and trays each night, then uncovered them in the morning. It looked a little odd, but hey, it works.

I am hoping that particular chore is one I'm done with for the rest of the growing season, although I know it will remain chilly for the remainder of the week.

My frost indicator is the roof of my family room, which is clearly visible from my bedroom or upstairs bath windows. Yep, it appears we had a frost both nights, although somehow, a lone squash seedling yet to be planted in the ground, as well as two basil plants, were overlooked as I covered everything up last night but survived the frost seemingly none the worse for wear.

I'm also looking forward to the end of daily watering of newly planted grass. I think the end of the week will be the final week of such careful tending to.

I'm into my third week of Census work. I had a tough time of it yesterday. My assignment area was a neighborhood fronting the river, mostly vacation homes, where not only were half the homes unmarked, but many of the streets lacked street signs as well. Because it's a mostly seasonal community, there were few residents around whom I could use as a proxy for the vacation homes.

I was pleased to see that the two false indigo (baptista?) that I divided and transplanted last fall are alive and well in their new location. I had read on someone else's blog that this plant dislikes being moved and has a tap root, which can make dividing a bit tricky, but apparently what I did worked. I also see that one of my favorite plants, the blue milkweed, also divided and moved to a new location last fall, is already a foot high and the new plants have flower buds. I love those blue flowers. Very pretty.

A mulberry tree volunteer just a few years old has grown quite rapidly. It did not have many berries last year, so I'm hoping this year it will rally and go nuts.It's close to 20 feet high already. The gooseberry already has small green berries; I've checked it a few times for black inchworms which almost often time their arrival to devour all the new leafy growth, but so far haven't seen any.

The grass has been growing so rapidly that I've had a hard time keeping up with it. I can't let it get long because tall grass quickly drains the power out of the battery of my mower. It took me 4 consecutive days to mow the front lawn when it normally should take 2!. Today, I mow the back.

During my census work of recent weeks, I've visited many different homes. It is clear that the homeowners of some are simply too busy with work to tend to their yards; many have overgrown grass and shrubs. I take pride in keeping my place (relatively) tidy, and visiting other homes served as confirmation that I do indeed have a nice yard! It's always a work in progress, of course.