In the autumn, frost is fun, it is a herald and a wee bit exciting. In the Spring the frost can bring frozen tears to your eyes. When I was writing to you yesterday morning I saw this through the window.
And thought oh how pretty, look at the sun rising through those translucent leaves. But we had had a silent mean bad frost. The leaves were transparent not translucent. The Late Spring frost had breathed his wicked breath at them, frozen them, then silently left them to die.
This is one of the Paw Paws. They are three years old this spring. There are eight of them. All their leaves are dead.
A Fall frost is kind of romantic and photogenic, a Late Spring frost … 
.. can kill your harvest. 
Least said the better. The whole crop is black green and falling.
We cannot always have beauty and we cannot always have right. Fair is often a luxury. This a fundamental knowledge. This is why joy is so brilliant and so bright, if we have the wit to see it. Because joy comes in short sublime bursts. When things go wrong, when God says No and we have no choice in the matter, it is just a bugger. We must move quickly on. So I will not show you the pears or the cherries. Or the hydrangeas. Or my beautiful sunburst magnolia that has not one untouched leaf, every one is freeze dried. But I am sure the leaves will grow back.
All is not lost so I will show you the blue berries….
whose leaves are still lovely.
And the aquilegia are all still beautiful. 
The chicks have a heat lamp so they are all warm and 
cosy.
When living the little farmy life, you have to keep your head above water by Forcing it back above the water when something goes wrong or those frozen tears will freeze in your eyes and make you blind to the joy of the survivors. But that morning was very very cold. And the frost that ruined our fruit harvest was not sweet at all.
This guy is though.
Someone is sneaking through my outdoor feed station. 
And looking pretty on the drive. Completely unaffected by the fact that all the tomatoes are black. John covered every one but they are all dead. However he has more in pots that were all brought inside that night, and last night when it froze again. He knew the risks. So he will be replanting this weekend.
I have been trying for over two weeks to take a delicate shot showing why I keep saying Mama must have her lambs soon. This is hardly delicate but you see what I mean! Hard not to look isn’t it! Soon Mama, soon!
Good morning. Lots to do today. The weather man tells me that last night’s second frost was the last one, so onwards and upwards now. Let’s hit the ground running today!
I am so glad you have chosen to ride the roller coaster of farmy life with me! Have a lovely day.
celi
The Kitchen's Garden 
88 responses to “Frost is only called Jack in the autumn”
Bitter cold here also, very windy with splatters of rain. It’s supposed to freeze for the next four nights. Then hopefully we are moving into more stable weather. Like you say…nothing to do but move forward!!!
Linda
http://coloradofarmlife.wordpress.com
http://deltacountyhistoricalsociety.wordpress.com
wind and cold is a nasty combo at this time of year! c
Frost definitely sucks. Awww look at the little chicka dees. They look so darn cute. And look at Mama showing off her good side in the photo :).
she is definitely trying not to show more than she has to (laughter!).. c
oh, life on the land can be so harsh1 But that’s the reality. In the past, this was people’s whole livelihood and they would starve if the elements were too harsh. I hope the leaves grow again.
Absolutely Juliet, imagine if we really were completely dependent on the land.. the loss of the fruit would be terrible! c
I may be a bit daft, but this post reminded me of a Christmas song…”Put one foot in front of the other……lalala” Perhaps it was a Christmas show….
There are always set backs…we just have to keep moving forward. I hope winds of change are a bit warmer. 🙂
J
Yup, one foot in front of the other is the best way to be ! Morning jess! c
We all rejoice in the early or fair weather but the reality can be rather cruel. We have had so many hard frosts and had sleet and hail today. Even when my tomatoes go into the ground on May 28th in Maine there is still a chance of a frost. You just have to take your chances sometimes. We win and sometimes we loose. Sorry for what you lost but happy that some has survived.
You have much much worse weather out there, it must be an endless struggle.. soon we will be into summer then it is plain sailing here.. just hot!! c
In the midst of death, life.
I am so SO sorry, Celi. Frozen tears for sure! Big hug to you in honour of your brave determination. XO
I’m so thankful for your attitude of gratitude. My brother had a late frost one year, in June! Lost everything. A few years ago, the deer ate a lot of it. The seeds are sown with hope, and sometimes all that is reaped is tears. It can be a tough life on the farm. I tried not to look at Mama, poor thing.
Oh Celi, I feel for you! Big hugs xox
It will kill some of the bugs too, but it is a hard thing to lose one’s fruits in one fell swoop like that, frost, I hope the rest of the growing season brings some different joys for you xx
Aw! I love the chickies!
Good morning Celi!
I know, I know, this is yesterday post….sorry!
I hope soon stop frost and the crop is not affected drastically. At least the animals look great, including Mia 😉
Way to stay positive! Boy I do hope mama gives birth soon, poor girl she has to be miserable.
I know that I’m late with this; you’re probably up and typing your next post for today. I just wanted to say “Resow, replant, trim back the damage, have a cup of tea.” You’ll find that most plants recover from a late nip of frost. What doesn’t recover, just resow or replant. Chin up.
OK, those chicks and the tulips in your next post, are my picks for your next postcards.
the chicks do need a postcard!! c