Freezing

The sheets I put over the tomato plants were covered in ice crystals when I took them off this morning.  The knots I tied to hold them in place on the plant stakes were frozen solid.  I warmed them in my hands, which freed them but left my hands aching.

It was colder here than it was in Indiana.  

The UV was unhappy, sluggishly entering the busy street while letting me now in no uncertain terms that this was not the weather pattern she's signed up for when I brought her home from the Honda dealership all those years ago.

The receptionist at school was appalled.  You're not going to garden out there today, are you?  I reassured her that I wasn't that foolish, that I'd come to remove the coverings, even though it was one hour earlier than when the weather man told me the hard freeze would end.  I was in the neighborhood and I wasn't planning to return 50 minutes later.  The leaves were frozen, brittle, and soggy.  The nasturtium..ere wilted and downcast.  The basil was frozen, upright and black. The tomatoes were cold but tasty.

The 2nd and 3rd graders were out for morning recess as I was leaving.  I shared some of the bounty with the gardeners who approached me.  We agreed that we'd never tasted tomato popsicles before.

Tomorrow I'll bring mozzarella and balsamic vinegar and a cutting board and a knife.  If the basil has thawed to an edible state I'll include it in the charcuterie board and share it all with the scholars.  Their buckets are growing nicely; there should be some radishes to add color to the platter.  

The lettuce mixes are beautiful but fragile.  They may unfreeze.  They may just keel over.

I'd have taken pictures of it all but my hands were frozen solid.  The notion of staying around to capture the images was one that I entertained very briefly.  The sheets were cccccooold in my hands.  My fingers were reluctant to pull the phone from its case.

There will be pictures tomorrow if the forecast is correct and the temperatures return to their more normal winter state.  For now, I'm staying inside, wearing two sweatshirts.

I admit it.  I'm a total weather wimp.