Busy

The Humble Gardener has been quite busy the past few days, having taken some vacation days from his 'real' job.  He has finished planting out the vegetables he started from seeds, either in his own garden or someone else's; spread mulch around the grape vines; planted the pear tree and raspberry bushes (sticks!) that finally arrived via UPS; mowed the lawn; washed out all the trays and flats he used to start his seeds; and cleaned the boxes off the front porch now that the danger of frost seems to have passed. 

Yesterday when I got home from work I found him in the garden, placing said boxes over each tender plant.  The forecast called for temperatures below freezing overnight, and he was not about to take chances with his garden! I left early this morning (before he had gone outside to remove the boxes) so I didn't find out until this evening that all his plants survived.  *Whew!*  He does this every year...unfortunately our growing season is relatively short, so he plants out early and has to anxiously watch the weather.  This year, he only had to cover up one time.  His father, also a farmer/gardener, always used to say, "Never plant your tomatoes until after the last full moon in May."  Well, the moon was full on Saturday evening, so another Farmer's Almanac aphorism bites the dust. 

He is counting 2 mini peach trees among the lost, however.  Just a few weeks ago, they were healthy and blooming.  Yesterday he noticed that the blossoms had withered on the tree, rather than falling off as usual when the bud behind the blossom begins to swell into fruit.  He thought maybe they had been touched by the cold, but not frost, that had come several days ago. But why these two and not the rest planted next to them? Of course we'll never know, but we can't help wondering.