Summer Fading Away

We had our first freeze warning last weekend.  Mike and I had to scramble to prepare.

First Mike picked all the ripe jalapeno's off of his still producing plant.  A neighbor told us I could do the same for my tomato plants even though the tomatoes were still green.  She said I should put them in brown paper bags and they will ripen in the bag.  I ended up with three lunch bags full of green tomatoes.  The tomatoes were so green and hard they looked and felt like apples.  I hope this works.

The freeze warning meant that Mike could officially quit watering our landscape and garden.  They were not going to survive the cold weather anyway.  So he drained and put away the water hoses except for those by the chicken coop.  We need that one during the winter.  The chickens still need fresh water.  

The problem with giving the chickens fresh water in the winter is two fold.  First the water could freeze in the hose and second if it does make it to the waterer it could freeze there.  For the first part of the problem, it now becomes imperative to watch the weather report.  Forecasted drops in temperature necessitate the draining of the water hose prior to the temperature drop.  For the second part of the problem, we plug in the heated watering pan.  

This year for the first time we have electricity at the chicken coop.  So Mike decided to add an outlet at the chicken coop so we could plug in the heated water pan it the coop instead of stringing electric cords from MB#1 to the chicken coop.  This excellent idea took an afternoon to accomplish.  While Mike drilled and installed conduit, I distracted the chickens by feeding them cherry tomatoes that were still growing in the vegetable garden.  

I would not say we are all ready for winter but we have made a start.