Summertime is falling down and winter is closing in
I’ll ply the fire with kindling and pull the blankets to my chin
I’ll lock the vagrant winter out and I’ll bolt my wandering in
I’d like to call back summertime and have her stay for just another month or so
But she’s got the urge for going so I guess she’ll have to go

 

I think of the Joni Mitchell song Urge for Going after we get the first killing frost. I’d like to “call back summertime” and save some of the flowers and tomatoes which will fall victim to the cold.  Especially since there might be several weeks till the next hard frost.

My vegetable harvest was somewhat of a disappointment for this season but I was pleased to see how well the flowers grew. I don’t have a strategy to protect them from the frost but I know someone who does.

The Dahlia is a perennial plant native to Mexico and Central America. It is grown as a tender perennial here in New Hampshire. After the killing frost the dead foliage is cut back and the tubers can be dug and stored in a cool place till Springtime.

Bob Romeril is the Dahlia Man of New Ipswich. I visited to photograph some of the blossoms in his collection.

I noticed that Bob had a number of stakes surrounding his flowers. On the tip of each stake was a plastic soda bottle.

Bob’s strategy for frost protection was to cover his entire flower garden with a cloth tent that his wife had fabricated by sewing together pieces of fabric. The soda bottles prevented the fabric from snagging when the material was drawn across the top. It was quite an ingenious solution. 

Eventually it will get colder and the tent will no longer suffice as shelter, Bob will gather the tubers and store till next growing season.

I’ll be doing the same with ones he gave to me.

An Apology to My Subscribers

I realize I’ve been lax about producing content for my blog. My Strange Life seems to devolved into My Strange Lethargy. The Pandemic has cast a pall over our collective lives even if we pretend it doesn’t.

You went to the trouble to subscribe and I feel an obligation to provide you with something on a more regular basis. I came to this realization as I found myself mindlessly scrolling past postings on Facebook with a completely blank stare.  I said to myself “Why not write something instead of reading this shite?”. 

Stay tuned and thanks for being here.