Go Away Jack Frost. Go Away.

Raise your hand if we can all agree that we are entering into what is considered the middle of the month we call "May." Ok. Great. Now keep your hand raised if you think that going from 80 degrees to literally freezing in a matter of days is some major B.S.

Looks like we are mostly in agreement. Hey, look. I know I live in Michigan. This is the kind of thing we are famous for. "You don't like the weather, wait a few minutes," is a fun and popular phrase that most Michiganders are familiar with. And normally I am the one beating the "deal with it" drum. But this time it actually effects me! So, you know, it matters more. Or something.

Generally when you are in the middle of May and you have a week and a half of 70-80 degree high temps, one doesn't expect it to revert back to freezing. You think those days are behind you and you can buy and plant flowers and not worry about your semi hardy plants that have been in the ground for a while. Apparently you would be wrong. Tonight, we are expecting a hard freeze here in Lansing, Michigan. As a kind of first time Urban Farmer, I have not bought floating row covers or anything else of that nature. I have thought about it. I thought about it all the way back in March. I decided to go this year without the expense and see how I fare with weather and pests without the row covers. Because of this, my wife and I had to scramble with sheets, blankets and tarps. I covered as many of my sprouts/vegetables as I could and my wife brought in as many of her flowers and hanging baskets as she could. Some of the flowers in the ground may have to deal with the frost. There are just too many to cover.

So that is what a make shift backyard frost protection looks like. Not pretty. I can only hope my peas bounce back as they were tall enough that they were climbing but had to be laid down to be covered. I'll keep you all updated on what the damage is tomorrow when I remove the sheets. Here's to hoping!