Wouldn't that frost you?

Out of the blue came freezing temperatures. It seems crazy early to me, but the old hands in the Elk-Camden Garden Club said it was just about time. Pat said they used to get frosts by Aug. 7 on the hill where she lives. Then, three years ago, it got warmer, longer. Last year's first frost was in late September or maybe even October. (I'll look through the blog archives.)

But you can't fight the weather, so we spend several hours yesterday draping covers over the tomatoes, beans, squash, peppers, cucumbers.  We used all the plastic we could find, as well as tarps and flannel sheets.

What a beautiful garden! And ready for the magazine photo shoot.

Good thing we did, too. The frost damaged both uncovered and covered plants, but I think we managed to save the big double alley of tomatoes and maybe half the pole beans. And some of the plants that were nipped pretty badly, like the squash below, seem OK on the lower leaves and fruits.

The beans on the right are frosted; the ones on
the left look fine.

It's supposed to freeze again tonight. We beefed up the coverings.

I don't want to lose those hundreds of pounds of tomatoes on the vines, but, confidentially, it would be a relief to let the garden go for the winter. She's a slaver driver come fall!