Chilling out!

We got a blast of cold air last week for two nights. I spent the night at the farm for two nights sleeping in our Toyota Corolla. I ran the water to ice in some of our trees that are on order. I wanted to make sure that nothing happened with the water as it ran. I found out a few things that night:

1. By turning on the mist in the greenhouse I can elevate the temperature about 10 degrees from the ambient outside temps.

2. Cold temperatures will wake me up if it gets cold enough.

3. Even as I age, I still think that ice is really neat (mind you, this is a Floridian's perspective).

We wound up getting some damage to our tropical plants but that was expected. Our veggies were surprisingly fine except for some snow peas. Our citrus blew all there leaves and I think I may have lost a lemon tree. I lost the carambola that was finally making a good comeback from last years freeze. It was just starting to look good. Our new transplants are looking well. Our potatoes are just starting to crack the ground. I hope to plant out some of the tomatoes, peppers, and eggplants this week.

Here are some pictures from the last two weeks.

Frozen veggies

Iced Mint

Cold Slaw

I can't believe that all the plants had no damage. We had temperatures in the twenties.

I also have good news. I am the new extension agent for commercial horticulture in Hillsborough and Polk counties! I start sometime in March. I am back on the campus of UF. This time as a faculty member. Go Gator Nation!