Be Prepared to Expect Surprises

A leaden sky greeted me as I drove home from work today - seriously leaden, as if the snow were going to fall out of the sky as anvils instead of flakes.

I realize that my blog's byline is "be prepared to expect wonders" - a nod to Thoreau from his essay on his great faith in seeds. But today I am reminded that gardening is also full of surprises...

Particularly surprises from the weather.

It's been rather balmy up to now. First frost was this past Tuesday - four days ago...
Two days ago -- yes, that would be October 27th -- it snowed. (See photos below!)
And tonight into tomorrow, we are forecast to get 6-10 inches of snow.
Wow.

Halloween does not usually look like this!

Yes, I'm surprised.
So were the tomatoes.
I really was not prepared - I honestly did not think that the snow would stick overnight!
So I did not cover my plants and the tomato vines met their chilly end.

Snow-matoes!

I picked the last of the tomatoes, peppers and purple bush beans Friday after much of the snow had melted. Then I tore out the vines and bushes - the tomato and pepper plants were destined for the burn pile and the bean plants went to the chickens. 

The yellow mums are chill with the snow.

On Friday, the snow melted quickly as the sun's rays slowly wrapped from the east around to the south and then to the west. I was surprised with how long it took for the sun to make it over to our yard, which faces southwest. There is certainly a difference between summer sun and fall sun.

It will be really interesting to look out the window tomorrow and see what new surprises Mother Nature has bestowed upon us.