“Why be influenced by another person when you already are one?” – Martin Mull
“There ain’t no rules around here! We’re trying to accomplish something!” Thomas Edison
“Everything I did in my life that was worthwhile I caught hell for.” – Earl Warren
“We had a quicksand box in our backyard. I was an only child, eventually.” -- Steven Wright
IN MY GARDEN
December 2009
Archive In My Garden
It had to happen sooner or later, and this year it was much later than usual. I’m talking about the first hard freeze, which arrived with a vengeance on December 9. And it caught me completely off guard.
Of course, I watch the weather closely, and I knew the bottom was about to drop out of the thermometer. But I guess I just got complacent, especially since November here in Tulsa was so unseasonably warm.
Anyway, I scrambled the night before the freeze to get all 39 of my bonsai in the garage for safekeeping. Under “normal” conditions, I would have had them safely healed in to my raised veggie beds by mid-November, but the warmer than usual weather meant that I still had lots of tasty treats in the beds. Still, I knew that what was left would soon turn to mush, so I harvested about 50 carrots, snipped a bushel full of various greens, and dug over a bushel of potatoes. I then picked a few dozen kumquats, insulated my faucets, made sure my Koi were okay, filled my bird feeders, taught a Tae Kwon Do class, came home, had a glass (or two) of wine with dinner, and finally went to bed, wondering just how cold it was going to get.
The next morning, the official low was 12, and the winds were howling at 30 mph. My palms, which I grow as annuals on the patio, were drooping to the ground. Ditto several crotons and a few other tropicals. And as predicted, my veggies had turned to mush. But at least my bonsai were safe, my Koi were happy, and the birds were chirping.
And guess what? It was even colder the next morning. But I didn’t mind. You see the potatoes were excellent, some of the tastiest tubers I’ve ever had. The carrots were as sweet as candy. And the greens were amazing, in part because I topped them with slowly braised pork belly that I crisped just before serving.
Yummy!
