Garden Freeze and Other News

Well, we made it back alive from our nice long warm trip down south to my sweet sister’s wedding and here’s the report:

Leaving for 10 days when you own a bunch of animals is kind of tricky.  We split them up–the dog went to one friend’s house because she gets too lonely if she’s just left in the yard and cries and annoys the neighbors.  The horse went to another friend’s house, and a third friend fed the chickens and cat.  The indoor animals were left stocked with food and water and had to fend for themselves which they did just fine except the lizard was a bit cold on our return.

Airport security was actually not too bad to get through.  Standard metal detectors both times with the usual ridiculous list of items you’re not allowed to have in your carry on bags.  Of course I had my knitting needles packed in the diaper bag even though I didn’t intend to do any knitting on the flight.

I found a fabulous baby item that I would recommend for anybody traveling with an infant anywhere from the pre-sitter age (approx 4 months) on.  And coincidentally it would make a fantastic addition to your baby survival kit.  I’ll post a full review in another post, but you can check it out here:  Snazzy Baby Travel Chair.

Taking a vacation to a nice warm location left us woefully unprepared for the snow and ice on the roads on the way home over the mountains Thursday.  Good thing we didn’t have to get out of our car in our shorts and sandals at the top of the mountain where the road was iced over at 2 pm.  We did have long pants, shoes, and light jackets in the luggage, but who would have thought to pack coats and/or snow boots in the vehicle when we left in 80 degree weather only 10 days before?  Maybe that gal that writes the preparedness blog?  Nope.  We just got lucky that we were not one of the many vehicles involved in an accident at the top of the pass.

Speaking of cold, it’s definitely been cold here the last couple of days.  We got in late Thursday night and when I went to check the garden Friday morning I found it had suffered a medium freeze.  Most of the tender plants froze.  We rummaged through the tomatoes, cucumbers, and squash and picked what was left undamaged by the freeze, but those plants are goners.  Some of the herbs only half froze, so I cut what didn’t freeze and hung it to dry.  I’ll get to the hardier herbs after I get all this freeze food taken care of.

The short season corn that we planted on July 4th (Sugar Buns–yes, it’s a hybrid, but I knew I was up against a super short growing season and this one has proven itself a quick grower in the past) is actually borderline overripe now, so even with this early freeze it had time to produce.  Unfortunately, some animal (likely a raccoon or two or five) found that it was ripe while we were gone and had a corn feast without us.  They didn’t even clean up after themselves.  How rude.  There are traps set for them now.

The kids picked what was left of the corn and we had some with dinner last night.  There’s enough left we’ll either freeze a little or just keep eating it until it’s gone.  The beets are still growing fine, so we’ll leave them in the ground for now.

In other news totally unrelated to the garden, the Self Reliance Expo is in Salt Lake this weekend.  I’m planning on getting up there today with my littlest helper (leaving the rest to help dad at the house), so I’ll see what kind of fun things I can learn while I’m there that I can share with you all.  I also have some book and product reviews coming up that I think you’ll enjoy.

If you still have a garden, enjoy it while it lasts, and don’t invite any nuisance animals over to check on your corn while you’re on vacation!

Keep preparing!
Angela