Tuesday, October 20, 2009

First Hard Freeze

Monday morning the temperature was 26 degrees at around 7am.

Cold. I lost my gamble with the garden. I should have placed sheets and blankets over the tomatoes, the peppers and the okra. Was too tired.

This morning the temperature was 30 degrees. The squash plants are dead. The green beans are gone. The okra is over.

That is okay. I will miss all the fresh summer garden vegetables but I am a bit tired of gardening. We gathered in the pumpkins, the mountains of spaghetti squash and the remaining unscathed peppers. Hopefully the broccoli, brussels sprouts, cabbage and turnips will bear before long.

The day warmed up to the 60s. Our uninvited guests, the ladybugs, came back in full force. They stormed the house. They swarmed and dive-bombed. They snuck in through cracks and crevices.

Those little invaders look sweet and innocent. After a few years on the farm, however, we know better. See my ladybug post from last year for a very funny story by Ross. Whatever you do, please don't let any ladybugs crawl into your ear, your nose or any other orifice!

So, we are full of beans and cornbread. Philip and Patrick are chasing away coyotes. The rest of us are off to dreamland. Another day of adventure awaits.

5 comments:

Leonora said...

We had the vacuum out today! Last year Steve actually vacuumed the outside of the house with the shop-vac. We had reached the point of desperation : )

CountryDew said...

I have stink bugs and lady bugs. Yuck.

Greener Pastures--A City Girl Goes Country said...

Aw, you didn't get your plants all tucked in.

There is nothing I hate more than ladybugs. Stink bugs are pretty close and that's what I'm getting now. They are actually worse but there aren't as many, thank God. People don't realize how horrible lady bugs are until they live in an old farmhouse in the country, especially a tall, light one facing the south. I need to show you some pictures of the lady bugs in my other house. We were INFESTED. Kurt had to bring home fast food and we'd eat it in the car because you couldn't even make a sandwich without a lady bug dropping into it. I don't have them that bad here, only hundreds, but for some reason I've only seen a dozen so far. Knock wood, knock wood, knock wood!

What month is the funny story on? I'd like to read it. I've had them in my mouth...

gingerhillery@mac.com said...

Debi, that post was November 1st last year. Ross had a very funny story on his comment!

Greener Pastures--A City Girl Goes Country said...

Okay, turns out I already read the funny story and commented. How in the world could I forget he had a lady bug in his ear for six months?! Maybe my brain is clogged up with them!