The first hard frost of the year had hit PA this weekend. The complex ecosystem of the garden was shocked into disarray, as I anticipated. Over the course of Saturday night, countless ice crystals pierced the unprotected cellular walls of non-cold adapted plants. After the frost, those crystals thawed out and the life fluids of the plant cells literally drained out of their bodies. The beans, tomatoes and eggplants collapsed into messy heaps by Sunday. My father collected the still developing eggplants, last of the beans and a basket full of green tomatoes. The remains of the plants were fed to the compost heap.
At it's closing 24 lbs of tomatoes, 3 lbs of white eggplants, and 13 lbs of beans were harvested. The garden life cycle as completed itself.
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