Better weather on its way

Well. They say our cold snap is over--the low will be 37 tonight, and after that, it isn't supposed to dip below the 40s again. Thank goodness.

I managed to save plants I thought I'd never manage to save. We rescued almost all of our peppers, tomatoes, tomatillos, and eggplants, and the tender young fennel is unharmed. The zucchini made it through, too. On the other hand, I am going to have to replant a few cukes, and I am going to have to reorder violet podded beans altogether. It was a wholesale bean slaughter, despite the sheets I tented over them. I should have dug them up.

What's strangest about this untimely freeze is that even though it never got colder than 26 degrees, I lost some cold-hardy plants that had stood all winter. I think it was the harsh, dry wind that did it. My lovely Italian escarole, which was planted in the fall and has withstood far colder temperatures, is suddenly a gelatinous mass of garbage (sob!). The lemon balm was killed back to a third of its previous size. And although they're still alive, my peas, chard, and radishes are all badly burned and will not be as presentable as I'd hoped.

So! Onions, turnips, and collards at Wednesday's market, then. Let us soldier on.