Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Frost & My Garden



FROSTED BROCCOLI

So it was in the low 20s last night, and I - in the excitement of Drew coming home from Florida and in the tiredness of driving home from New Orleans near the end of the Saints game during Monday Night Football - I forgot to cover the lettuce. This morning, I awoke to well-chilled leafy greens, wilted cilantro, and icy cabbage and broccoli.


ICY CILANTRO


But amazingly, as soon as the temps warm up a little - anything above freezing will do - cilantro springs back to its prior peppy self, with lush green leaves just begging to be picked and tossed into a guacamole or onto a black bean soup.




REJUVENATED CILANTRO

Luckily for me, broccoli and cabbage are both winter plants this far south, and both perked right up as the day progressed, as they have all the other nights they've been dusted with a light frost.

DEFROSTED BROCCOLI

Also to my great relief, the previously frozen lettuce seems to have done fine, too. Now if I could just remember to cover it tonight ... the rest of the week will be warm!


TWO TYPES OF LETTUCE

WITH DAY LILIES AND WILD ONIONS PEEKING IN



And you know I can't blog about my garden without including at least one flower. This pretty little pansy is still awaiting planting, but there are many in the ground already. This year, I planted a variety of colors: purple, gold, burgundy, white. I can't wait till they fill in their beds and grace my garden with lovely colors on the sometimes dreary winter days.

If you ever wondered why I love living here, now you know: beautiful color all year long and happily growing edibles for every season. Ahhhhhhhh, this is the life!

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