First Frost

November has arrived and with it some cold weather. Ok, so cold for our southern state. We had our frost not too long ago and given that we are amateur gardeners we figured the veggies were the same as any other plants and needed to be covered when the temperature out side was going to be below 32. So every night for a week we were out covering the entire garden with bedsheets. It was quite a sight!


After about a week of late evening coverings and early morning un-coverings, Craig was becoming frustrated and unwilling to help. We decided to call Ray. We are certainly glad we did. Turns out they do not to be covered in a harsh frost, much less a very mild one like the ones we had been having because they are "fall/winter" plants. I'll admit that I felt beyond silly having to ask the questions, but I'm glad we did. It sure saves time in the mornings.

Heeeeeee's Back!!!!! 
At least I am sure that is what the vegetable are thinking...if vegetable could think that is. This past Friday morning Craig let the dogs out while it was still dark and cold. Just before we left the house for the days, Craig went to let the dogs back in. Just as soon as he opened the back door and stepped out into the yard, I heard Craig start to yell. Of course I ran out to see what the heck was going on.

There was Duece, back in the garden, laying in a hole he had dug. Craig is in tears at this point as he points to the dug up plants that were once nestled into the ground where the dog now laid. I admittedly yelled at the dog, the language was not completely bad, but it was not exactly nice. I immediately apologized to my four-year-old and told him that it was not something that anyone should say. It worked however, and scared the dog enough that he came bolting out of the slightly open garden gate.

The Offender!

Since it was still pretty dark outside I could not evaluate the amount of damage that had been done and time was running out. I had to leave and I did not have enough to get in the garden and try to replant whatever had been dug up. On the drive into work, I started to think about why Duece would want to dig into the garden dirt and lay in it. Wouldn't the ground be almost as cold as the air outside? The answer to that question came when I looked up similar dog-related problems on the internet during my lunch break. Turns out the compost that we have been using in the garden produces gasses from the materials that are still being broken down. These gasses produce a significant amount of heat, and thus the reason why the dog was comfortable in his newly dug hole. Sheesh! Who would have thought that the very thing that helps the garden grow strong would be a calling card for destruction.

The Aftermath...

The remaining turnip after replanting

When we got home the evening after the garden raid by Duece, we were able to survey the damage. What was left of the turnips had been uprooted, there was a large area of the basil roots that had been uncovered, and the worst of all one of the three remaining heads of lettuce was lying in the center of the garden.

We were only able to locate one turnip...It was well on its way into becoming the vegetable. It was a small white ball with just a hint of reddish color. Most of the leaves had been torn off, but there were 2 small ones left, and while they were mostly yellowed, there was some green left in them. I showed Craig the small turnip. "It is still a baby, momma, we need to let it cook a while longer" was his response. He dug a new hole in the now loose dirt and placed the little turnip into the ground. He believes strongly that it will recover...Hopefully that innocent, blind faith will be enough.

How about the basil you may be asking yourself. We I think we are going to have decent luck with that. Mainly because they have been so hearty and the fact that they were not uprooted, so much as uncovered. It took Craig less that a minute to cover the roots of the one basil plant and fill in that part of the hole. "He's gonna be fine mom." How he knows it's a boy, I am not sure...

So that brings us to the poor lettuce plant. It had been doing so well. It had begun to coil into itself and had started to look like a true head of lettuce. Now, it looks as if it had been placed in a torture device and stretched back out to its limits. I guess in a way it has been through torture. We replanted the root ball, but the plant remained limp on the ground. Even Craig said: "Momma, I think it's sick." I couldn't agree more. I think there is a good chance that we will only be harvesting 2 heads of lettuce this fall and that is only baring anymore rampages by vegetable killing bulldogs.

The sad, sad state of the rutabagas:

I wish that I could tell you that the rutabagas were doing well. I wish that I could blame their decline on the dog, but I am not sure why they have taken such a turn for the worse. At first I thought that we had maybe planted the starter plants too late in the season, but Ray informed me that we should have still be able to plant them now and have them survive, so again, I am not sure why they have all but died out. Out of the 6 rutabaga plants that were put into the ground, only 2 remain. There must be something about the number "2"...

The Remaining Vegetables:
Everything else that has not been affected either by dog or nature, is doing well and growing strong.

• The Herbs: As a matter of fact, the mint is growing like a weed (perhaps becasue it is one), the oregano is hearty, and the parsley is strong. The Sage and Thyme which were planted in the in window box have been moved into the house for the winter. We had moved them inside when we thought the frost would kill all veggies, however even after we discovered the truth, they were doing so well we left them inside. 

• Broccoli: They have rebounded like your wouldn't believe from them caterpillar attack last month. Although there are not florets yet, we are confident that there will be soon
• Cauliflower: The plants look strong, but again no florets. They have been in the ground a lot less time than any of the other plants (other than the rutabagas). Just as with the broccoli, we are expecting a good harvest.

Expected Harvest:

We are still on tract for most of the vegetable to be harvested in December. Craig is getting more excited at time passes. He knows that the closer we got to Christmas, the closer he gets to pulling the vegetable out of the ground. 

Removing Leave From Stems

Having Fun Dehydrating Herbs

Crumbling Herbs to Store

What has been nice about having the herbs in addition to the vegetable has been that Craig has been able to harvest through out the fall. We have gathered and dehydrated some from every herb plant in the garden. Because we are gathering so much, the food dehydrator has been a wonderful tool. It is nice because Craig is able to wash and place the hers on the drying rack with little help. Not to mention that it makes the house smell like a little Italian bistro. 

So Farmer Craig's Garden has had some issues with the past month, but it looks like things are going to be just fine. Craig is excited, I am excited, and we are both having a great deal of fun! We are looking forward to next month we hopefully we will have some veggies to harvest!!