Don't Rush the Season

About this time every year, I am tired of rain and snow and really ready for some sunshine. So ready, in fact, that I usually decide that weeding my flower beds and maybe even putting in a few flower bulbs will make summer arrive a little sooner.

I have a word of caution for you though. If you live as far north as I do in western Oregon, don't yield to the temptation of planting tomatoes, yet. I'll admit, I did it, and I'm paying for it, or at least my tomato plants are. All 6 of them froze. Their grotesque little bodies are now lying flat on the ground and starting to turn black, obviously beyond any hope of resurection.

It could have been worse, I suppose. What if I had filled the whole back yard with tomato plants?

I really should have known that there was a reason why those fragile little plants were inside at the garden shop. I can't really blame the clerk who waited on me either--maybe she thought I had a green house, or a covered patio, or sense enough to cover them at night until the weather warmed up.

What do you do with dead tomato plants, anyway? I suppose they deserve a decent burial, but it's cold and rainy outside. I guess I'll have to wait until the next 5-minute sunbreak arrives.