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Friday, January 15, 2010

Kiddie Pool Garden What Survived the Big Freeze of 2010

Remember back in September JR and I got all ecological and economical and any other "e" word you can think of? The boy was about to go off to college and we were going to tighten our belts. Very optimistic.

Remember when I posted about feeding your family for less? Where I talked about buying less processed foods, eating less meat, and growing your own. In that post I attached some very lovely links on Kiddie Pool Container Gardening. Very informative.

Remember this post? Where you all got to see JR's pasty white Irish gams. Very attractive.

Where I showed you how we had put in 3 kiddie pool gardens. It was a how-to post. Very educational.

Remember when I taunted you with updates on how my garden was growing. It was taunting with love. We're going to call that encouragement. Very motivational.

Then we had big freeze. Three nights under 30 degrees. (no hate comments about how 30 degrees isn't that cold. I'm in Houston, TX we don't get that cold. Like ever.) Very cold.

I despaired that my garden would be no more. I worried that I would go out there to see brown slumping plants. That my coveted herbs would be piles of rotting leaves and twigs. Very anxious.

I walked out to the garden yesterday to access the damage. Look what I found......


Broccoli

And more......

broccoli

And more.....


Did I mention that I love broccoli?
No?
Well, I do.
And JR does too.
It's a good thing because we are eating broccoli for the rest of the weekend.
(Ya may not want to plan a trip here this weekend if you know what I mean. wink)

How did the herbs come out? I was really surprised to see that the parsley and cilantro are doing remarkably well. I was actually going to buy some this weekend and now I don't have to; score a point for my grocery bill. The oregano, lavender, rosemary, and sage are all holding their own. The only thing I lost was the basil but that was to be expected. It's a very tender plant. It's loss is already being felt. I love fresh basil. I'm not going to go out to buy it though. I'm going to go through basil withdrawal for a few weeks then replant. Then another 4 weeks of anticipation while it grows. Then I'll be back to my twice a day basil monkey-on-my-back until the next time it freezes around here. Which from all the local accounts is like every 5 years.

How did ya'll make it through the freeze?Kath and Linda, I've seen some of your pictures of snow and ice. Does anyone else have pictures? If so leave the link or email me a few and we'll do a regional Big Freeze of 2010 post. Because really, who doesn't want to relive that one?

Love,
M

15 comments:

  1. That's some good looking broccoli. Congrats. Sorry about the basil; I am a basil freak as well. Cheers Michele!!

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  2. I'm glad you didn't lose as much as expected and the broccoli looks as healthy as can be!

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  3. I have a HUGE bush of purple sage at the side of my house - it's one hardy sucker. We've had a foot of snow on the ground, and I still went out and cut some to season the turkey breast I roasted last weekend.

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  4. Hey, we were cold here too so I'm not mocking. It was something like 5 or 6 nights of dipping below 30 and it broke all kinds of records.

    So, ALL OF OUR LANDSCAPING IS DEAD. The landscaping that we payed tons of money to have designed and installed a few years back. Here's hoping it comes back at some point.

    That broccoli looks good! I still have our kiddie pool stored out back for spring to come and us to plant our own.

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  5. I am so impressed. Nice looking broccoli. I also can't believe your rosemary survived that!
    How nice is that? Fresh herbs year long.
    I think it's worse for you guys in Texas and Fla, etc. with this cold. We up here at least expect it, right?

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  6. That's some mighty nice broccoli you've got there. No big freeze here, just a New England winter. And I wouldn't even consider trying to grow anything outside before Memorial Day or after Columbus Day (that's in October for all you non-Columbus Day people)

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  7. Nice broccoli. No big freezes here, in fact, it's been so warm we're starting to worry about some of the Olympic venues not having enough snow next month.

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  8. That is some bodacious broccoli!
    I have a Freeze post! (Shut up! I do!) I'll post it next week, okay?

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  9. That broccoli is GORGEOUS.

    And I've never known anyone with a basil monkey on her back. At least it's cheaper than the harder drugs.

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  10. hey Michelle,
    your gardens think that they're in New York!

    broccoli is in season in these parts.

    the irony is that we've just inched
    our way upout of a deep freeze into the 30's and you'd think that spring broke early!

    what with the ladies shucking their coats and wotnot, yadda yadda ...

    anyhoo, congrats on the good luck,
    and . . . DO light some candles :-)

    ..
    .ero

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  11. Regarding your comment on my post today......your theory about why elderly are somewhat invisible is a good one. Me, on the other hand, I'm not invisible....maybe they didn't see her because they were focused on me....the tall redhead. I don't mean my beauty but just my presence.

    I do stand out in a crowd. I am never a confrontational person but had I noticed a teenager sitting there, I just might have suggested he or she get up. But they were all middle age, which really shocked me more, and were in far better shape than my 76 year old mother.

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  12. Holy broccoli!!! Glad to hear the deep freeze didnt damage your garden other than the basil.

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  13. I live in south Georgia and that freeze was awful! We had 17 days straight of hard freezes. Not we signed up for in the south.

    Your broccoli is awesome! Last year, we tried to grow broccoli and had a freak warm front come through which caused the broccoli to flower. While we couldn't eat it, we were fascinated with the flowers.

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  14. You have an amazing green thumb! I'm glad your stuff made it...espically the broccoli...I love broccoli.

    Good for you Michele!

    Linda
    http://coloradofarmlife.wordpress.com

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