"By The Light Of The Silvery Moon..."

Citrus Blossoms

It's been getting cool at night here and last night there were frost warnings for San Diego County, so Cindy decided that we needed to go out after dinner and cover some of the plants.

Her chief concern was for the small citrus trees.  We're still not sure exactly what they are (see Of Lemons and Limes and When Life Hands You Lemons...), but they've been blooming their little hearts out lately, and we'd hate to see all those blossoms ruined by frost.

So after dinner we trooped outside, armed with flashlights and a light fabric material to cover the plants.

They looked a bit ghostly in the moonlight when the plants were all wrapped up, but at least they should be protected from frost.

Maybe someday they'll actually produce enough fruit for us to figure out what kind of citrus plants they are.

Butternut Squash

Butternut Squash

We finally had some of the Butternut Squash for dinner last Sunday, and it was excellent.

Cindy planted these in the raised bed behind the garage and constructed panels to keep the varmints from gnawing on them.  (See "Shock, Horror!)

Then she encased them in some old pantyhose to keep the birds from pecking into them.

Cindy finally picked these about a month ago, and they've been maturing since then, so we finally ate some of it.

Roasted, buttered, yum.

Tomatoes Gone Wild!

Tomato Plants

Our tomato plants are showing no signs of slowing down this fall.  The vines are still green and bushy.

They have plenty of blossoms, and there are still a few tomatoes on the vines, but I think it's now too chilly for any more tomatoes to set on.   The plants don't seem to know that, though; they're looking bigger and healthier than they were this summer.

Still A Few Tomatoes

Cindy is thinking of taking a few cuttings from the plants and seeing if she can root them, and then she'd have plants ready to set out again in January or February.

Even the tomato plant in the potato bag is still going strong.   That plant was supposed to be a determinate variety, which dies back once it has produced tomatoes, but this one doesn't seem to know that.  This is the same plant that produced the luscious tomatoes the varmint got last August (see "Why We Have The Varmint Repelling Panels").

Caution, Gardener At Work

So, once these last few tomatoes ripen and are gone, we'll have to wait until it's warm enough for more to set on and ripen.  We wait for months for that to happen, then suddenly we're up to our knees in tomatoes, and then one day they're finally gone and we have to wait again.