I covered my garden beds. It’s not really all that cold outside right now, but the wind is picking up, and it’s a bitterly cold wind. I wasn’t sure if I should cover them or not, because no one seems to be able to agree on whether there will be an actual freeze. Most of them can stand a light freeze, but I’d rather not chance it. Now though, I have to worry about it raining too much and the plastic giving way and crushing the poor plants. If it’s not one thing, it’s another!

I’m getting tired of the winter garden again. Nothing in it is prospering in the slightest, and though the broccoli is finally making broccoli, it’s growing soooo slowly. I think in another week or two I will be pulling out everything but the broccoli, carrots, and the new baby lettuces that have come up. I want to start getting ready for spring, and I need to work the dirt a little and add some things to it to refresh it.

Since it’s going to be nasty outside the next few days, which always leaves me feeling bummed out, I think I’ll cheer myself up by starting some seeds for the spring garden. Not that I won’t kill them, because I somehow always manage to kill most of my seedlings, but at least it’ll give me something to dote on and be excited (or grumbling) about until I can really get out into the garden. Who knows, maybe I’ll succeed at getting some plants started and thriving early this year. It could happen!

In fact, rather than spend this evening ripping seams with that dinky seam ripper, I think I’ll look through my seeds and seed catalogs and start planning for spring. And … start pestering the husband about adding a new raised bed or two. I really need more room if I am going to continue to go organic out there, because nature takes it’s share of everything I grow. Only fair, I suppose, but does nature have to want so much? LOL!

I toddled out to the garden to get some sunshine on my skin, and what did I find today? The broccoli is actually making broccoli! It’s possible there is some hope for actual edibles from the winter garden after all!

Yippee!

Since the weather is so warm and sunny today, I decided to go have a look at my pathetic garden. I feel compelled to at least take a peek at the plants every so often, even though the trips out to the garden have been more depressing than fun this winter. The plants are still growing, and what’s survived the freezes seem to be doing OK, but as I went from section to section noticing that everything still looks stunted and not producing anything at all edible, I saw something white peeking out from under the leaves of one of the fava bean plants.

Lo and behold, my fava bean plants are blooming! Yes, they continue to be too short and since the last big freeze are half dead, but they are blooming. A lot of blooms too! After all the depressing plant losses this season, to see something blooming in the garden is a real mood boost.

Also, a few more baby lettuce plants have popped up! I suspect as the weather continues to get warmer and warmer I may find myself overrun with self-planted lettuce. I’m certainly not going to complain about that, and you can be sure I will be saving the seeds from the ones that came up earliest and survived the freezing weather. Those are going to be the seeds I definitely want for early planting next year.

So all is not completely depressing in the garden anymore. I still don’t know that I will bother with a winter garden again, because it’s just not much fun being out in the cold gardening, and I hate seeing hard work go to waste when a hard freeze comes through and kills things even when measures have been taken to save them. But it’s been an interesting experiment, and if nothing else, I’ll have some great lettuce seeds and maybe a pot or two of fava beans out of it.

And one of my tomatoes looks like it might be turning red! Sure hope so. I want those seeds too! That’s been one hardy tomato plant.

The first year I have a real vegetable garden with actual raised beds and money put into the whole thing we have not only the hottest summer ever, we are now having the coldest winter in forever. What the hell?! Can I get a little break here? At least one season that isn’t abnormally hot or cold, please?

This year has been very discouraging in the gardening arena. I’m not going to give up though. Through the insufferable heat of last summer, I still managed to bring some good food to the table, and I suspect there will be something come of the winter garden as well, but still … it’d be nice hot to have to work so hard for so little. I’d like to see what I can do with the weather cooperating just a little bit.

As soon as I finish this cup of coffee, I’m going to go uncover the beds (which have been covered for days now thanks to the cold) and see what’s what. I want to give the plants a little fresh air and unfiltered sunlight, since it’s lovely (but cold) today. Starting tonight, the weather is going to turn hellishly cold again for a day or so. I’d at least like to look at what plants I have left and enjoy them before who knows how many more die.

I’m really getting disgusted with gardening. I know it’s just been a run of bad luck with the weather and that everything I have been doing should have produced excellent results, but it’s still discouraging. I guess all I can do is wait until next month and start my early spring things … and hope that the weather plays along this coming year. If I could have one wish granted, it would be that the weather be normal next year, but I have begun to suspect the weather is never going to be “normal” again and that this overly hot and overly cold crap is what we will be stuck with forever.

I just want some decent weather so I can grow some food! Dammit!

Last night, when the wind started getting high, I thought about my tomato plants. I thought about bringing them into the laundry room. I did think about it, but I didn’t really want to get dressed and go bumbling around out in the cold rain and wind … and they needed to be watered … and I didn’t think anything too bad would happen to them.

I should have brought them into the laundry room as soon as it got windy. Even though they were both staked, both of them were bent over completely when I looked out the window at them when the sun came up. I ran out there and tied and staked them carefully in hopes to save them somewhat, but the small one has an almost completely broken stem, near the base, and the large one (with four tomatoes on it) bent at the same location and now has a very weak stem (but not completely broken or split) also near the base.

I am heartbroken. Utterly heartbroken!

While I really, really don’t want to transplant tomato plants today on top of everything else, I am going to have to find the time to do so at some point. I have to bury the damaged stems well beneath the dirt level and then pray that works. Tomatoes will grow roots from the stem, if the stem gets buried, and I have successfully done this before, though with much smaller plants.

If I don’t get to at least eat those tomatoes and gather some seeds for spring, I swear you do not want to experience the whining, moaning, and gnashing of teeth that will be heard coming from me.

Can I not get just a little good luck in the winter garden this year?

Just a wee bit?!

I am so excited about these tomatoes! There are three on this plant now, and more flowers coming. So awesome! The other tomato plant is very small but growing slowly, and it will probably be ready to start giving me ‘maters in early spring, if not sooner. Thank you nature for giving me two gorgeous tomato plants! I can’t wait to have a nice salad with one of these.

I might as well show you the soggy mess that is my winter garden. This one bed and a few radishes and carrots sprinkled here and there elsewhere are the whole of it. I never did get the other stuff planted, so I’ll be doing that in late January or early February.

Already been a busy morning for me. I’ve been to the grocery store and done some dishes, and it’s not even 10 am yet!

And sometime between when I walked Lin out to his truck while only wearing a light sweater and tee shirt, jeans, and my moccasins and when I left the house to go to the store a very short time later, it got freaking COLD out there. What the hell?! Looks like we’ll get more rain today too. I suppose I shouldn’t complain about the rain, because I haven’t had to water the garden once since I put in the winter plants. In fact, I think it’s been too wet, but there isn’t anything much I can do about that.

The low tonight is expected to be around 35ºF, so I guess later this afternoon I’ll go out and cover the plants and bring in the tomatoes. I might just bring in the ‘maters, because of the things still alive in the garden, I think all of them are things that should be able to handle light freezes. Or not, and I find I don’t really care enough to look up the information. My level of non-enjoyment of winter gardening is really beginning to peak. I’m just not into being outside in the cold and less-than-sunny weather.

Speaking of the garden, I suppose I should bundle up and go have a look to see how things are doing. The last time I was out there last Wednesday, there were many dead things, the arugula was blooming prematurely (and thus a failure), radishes needed to be harvested, and some plants looked to be doing pretty good. Notice I haven’t been posting any garden photos lately? It’s just too depressing.

I’m looking forward to tearing stuff up and planting my early season things in late January. The winter garden looks like it isn’t going to be very productive (or enjoyable). Ready for spring now! Please?

All the potato plants were lost in the last freeze. All of them. Maybe they’ll come out again, but I’m not betting on it. I’m so disappointed. Those were my second generation plants, and those were the only starters I had for them. Now I have to start all over with the potato project in the spring.

I am not enjoying winter gardening at all. NOT AT ALL. Who knows what plants I’ll lose tonight when it really, really freezes. I’m not replanting anything. I’m not even going to be paying much attention to the garden beyond making sure it has water (which I haven’t had to worry about thanks to all the rain). Things either live and grow or they die and get plowed under in the spring. This will be the last winter garden. I’m just going to start with the super-early cool season before spring (that I missed last year, not having beds yet), plant like crazy during spring, and muddle my way through summer. No more gardening when it’s cold. It’s too depressing, and I don’t enjoy being outside in the cold anyway.

Can’t believe all my potatoes died when they were well covered and it barely got down to freezing. Wah!

There’s a 70% chance of snow in Austin on Friday. 70%! Yipes! That’s just crazy. We sometimes get snow in late January or early February, but this early in December seems really, really early.

While normally, I would be thrilled about seeing any snowflakes at all falling from the sky here, since it’s so rare, I do need to figure out what to do about the garden. The potatoes will have to be covered. Well, actually, everything needs to be covered. Sure, some of the plants are supposed to survive down to 20ºF, but I don’t trust my bad luck. Or rather, I do trust my bad luck to leave me with a bunch of dead plants.

I spent some time out there today trying to determine what was going to be the easiest way to cover my beds. Looks like it will be bamboo cut and bent to create domes over the two beds over which I will toss some plastic and/or old blankets. The potatoes are going to be trickier, but I think I can work something out. They don’t have to be covered for days, just Friday and Friday night. It’s supposed to get a little warmer on the weekend, though Lin may need to toss the stuff over them again on Saturday night (though I don’t know that I am leaving until Sunday as the weather may be bad for driving Saturday morning if we really do get snow).

See, this is the part of winter gardening I am not enjoying. During the spring and summer, all I have to worry about is bugs, weeds, and watering. If a storm blows in and tears stuff up with wind, there isn’t much I can do about that, so I don’t really worry about it. During the winter, there’s all this freezing weather stuff that has to be dealt with, and considering how wet our winter looks to be this year, having snow more than this one time isn’t out of the realm of possibility.

I don’t know. I have to come up with some kind of plan by tomorrow evening. Since Lin is home from work early today (though still on the phone working), I think I’ll get his input and convince him we need to go to Home Depot for some of those cheap plastic drop cloths so I can figure something out to protect my plants.

Ugh. Still not enjoying the winter gardening, and even with a hat on, my ear was not happy being out in the cold … though my ear is much, much better today (yeah).

I am just not getting into fall and winter gardening as much as I do spring and summer gardening. The weather hasn’t even been especially foul or cold, but being outside during this time of year goes against my natural hibernation instincts. Then there’s the fact I have never grown any of these plants before, so I have no idea if they are on track or too small. They seem to be growing so slowly, and they seem too small. Sorry, but I’m just not that interested in fall and winter gardening, and I think next year there will be a few months of no gardening at all when the chill air arrives.

All the same, I worked in the garden today. I didn’t intend to work in the garden, but I got out there and decided to pull up the old bean plants and chop down the basil. Once I had that done, I started in on working the soil and removing the weeds and old mulch that hadn’t decomposed. I probably wouldn’t have worked on that as long as I did, but Lin came out and started puttering around near the garden area. He’s such a bull in a china shop, I felt the need to keep an eye on him as he worked near my plants with things like extension cords and power blowers.

So Bed Two is finally ready to plant some lettuce and fennel. Totally the wrong time to do that, but I’m going to do it anyway. Maybe some more of the other winter plants too. Like more arugula. The first batch I planted is still tiny but already blooming, and I’m pretty sure it shouldn’t be doing that. Already in Bed two are three volunteer Black Seeded Simpson lettuce plants. There was only one, but today I found two more growing in my walkway between the beds, so I transplanted them into the bed. I also left one pepper plant that seems to still be producing peppers, as well as the one basil plant the last of the pole beans are growing on.

After Lin and I finished puttering in the garden area, it didn’t look nearly as depressing as it did when we started, but I still find it hard to care. Even the brightest sunny day during the winter doesn’t make me feel the same joy of being outside as a somewhat gloomy summer’s day. I’ll muddle through this year, but unless I get the most awesome harvest of broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, and arugula, chances are high I will not be doing this again. I’ll just get started really early in the spring instead with things like peas and such.

But it was kind of nice being outside for a while today. Not wonderful, but nice … mostly because Lin was out there with me being his usual goofball self.

I just did the evening fire ant check. I am pleased. I appear to be winning this war more quickly than I anticipated!

The original monster colony has not a single ant moving anywhere near any of the mounds or tunnels. The second monster colony has a few workers wandering around somewhat aimlessly, but mostly there are just Ghost Ants hauling off the spoils of war –dead ants and dead ant eggs. That leaves the two mounds in the far back yard, which I guess I’ll get started on tomorrow.

This is working much better than I expected and a whole lot faster. I fully expected it to be “kill some here one day, they move there the next” kind of thing. But no, I seem to be getting rid of them pretty quickly. Faster than most of the standard poisons, actually.

I guess now I’ll have to add “walking the whole yard looking for fire ant mounds” to my weekly task list … right up there with “walking the yard and chopping down baby pear trees.” I will have a fire ant and pear tree free yard! Yippee!

One of the piles of dead ants. Just look at all the winged reproductives I slayed! Woo hoo!

I decided to walk the whole property and look for fire ants. Might as well see how bad it is beyond the part of the yard we use, right?

Oh … my … god.

There’s one more collection of three well-established mounds that are close enough to one another, I’d guess it’s another multi-queen colony. The mounds themselves aren’t very large yet, so they are first on the list for boiling water in the morning. They are about the same size and composition as the one mound I totally eradicated with a mere one gallon of hot water.

There’s one non-mound group that took up residence under a wooden post I had at the end of one of my garden beds. I moved the post, and maybe they’ll move on to a location I can get to them easier. Can’t very well use boiling water near my plants’ roots.

There are a couple of very small mounds here and there I will get to before they are large, but aren’t a top priority.

Then there’s the mother of all fire ant mounds, formally known as the compost heap. Right on top is a neat and tidy little mound. I poked the leafy heap, and sure enough … nothing but fire ants. I ran away quickly. It’s a good thing I didn’t just walk back there and stick my hands into that to get some leafy matter for in the garden. I shudder to think what would have happened. I don’t think boiling water is going to work on that one, which isn’t going to stop me from trying anyway. The water should run through the leafy matter easily, and it’s entirely possible none of their actual nest in below the actual ground level.

Glad I went out and checked the whole yard^†. Now I know how big the problem is. Pretty damn big, but I think I can get rid of a lot of them just with the boiling water.

Now that awful huge one I have been working on for a couple of days? Diminished activity, little to no mound rebuilding, and many, many dead ant bodies lying in piles. I seem to have at least damaged them pretty well, so I will keep at it. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if I got rid of all the fire ants in the yard without using any poisons, organic or not? I’d really like that. It’s worth the trouble of boiling some water and carrying large pots back and forth a few times every morning to not use any poisons at all.

So the Fire Ant War goes on. Hopefully, it will be over soon, because I have to get back to the War on Pear Trees. Yes, the pear trees have made a new appearance again. Fewer than before, but still … I want none of them anywhere in the yard!

1. † Didn’t check beyond the woodpile though. After encountering the compost heap frull of fire ants, I was pretty much done with wanting to look for fire ants. [↩]