A late frost

Last night, or this morning we had a frost.  It wasn't a very heavy frost - I didn't notice any frost lying around when I woke up. Instead what I noticed was the damage it caused in the vegetable patch. Warning - pictures of dead plants follow.

These little plants were my 'Sex without strings' yellow bush beans. My 'Kentucky Wonder' and 'Borlotti' are also victims of the frost.

This plant was my 'Greenskin' zucchini. My 'Gold Rush' yellow zucchini is also affected.

The plant below is one of three 'Butternut' pumpkins all destroyed.

My potatoes have also been nipped, but only lightly.  I am hoping they may survive...does anyone have experience with their potatoes being nipped like this?

Only 2 of the 8 tomatoes I have ion the ground seem to have perished - both 'Green Grape'. Luckily I have another 'Green Grape' seedling I can pop in  to replace these two.

This is terribly disappointing but I guess to be expected. This is the first winter and spring we have had at Highfield and it is very difficult to know when the last frost might occur with no history to back me.  I have also been enthusiastic to get crops in and going so that some produce before the worst of the summer heat.

Oh well, I will have to start again with some of these crops. Unfortunately I have put in all the 'Sex without strings' and 'Kentucky Wonder' bean  seeds.... I might have to rely on varieties commonly available from the nursery so I can get going again quickly.

A late frost is one thing, but an early fire is  completely another thing. My little frost 'disaster' is certainly unimportant. Stay safe people in the affected areas.

How is spring treating your crops? Any little frost nips?

The ghosts of Highfield

At Highfield the ghosts start appearing in late autumn. There are two types of ghosts out here in the bush.

The first type crawls from holes in the ground and leaves behind strange orange shells.

From their orange shells emerge the thumb-sized ghost moth,

which tap on the window in the evening.  See their little eyes glow?

Then there are the citrus ghosts.

These are my crude frost protectors flung over the baby citrus trees each night when the forecast minimum is 2 degrees Celsius or less. These frost cloths are thin old sheets I bought at the Gundagai Op Shop for $2.00 each.

Do you have interesting wildlife visit your garden? How do you protect your plants from frost damage?