Dealing with Frost

I was discussing winter veggies with a friend on FB and thought it would be a good topic for here too!
As I posted earlier, we had great success with the garlic and onions we planted last December to over-winter in the garden. We got a much better harvest than ever before, and still have a bowl of each that we're working on using up! This year I'm going to try to plant the garlic from the bulbs I grew this year, and only buy new onion sets. The onions haven't arrived yet, but I hope to get the garlic in the ground over this long-weekend, and a wonderful delivery of leaves from a co-worker today should be the last needed ingredient! Last year I planted both in garden boxes and covered with a thick layer of leaves for mulch. Then when the last frost warning passed this spring I removed the mulch and "voila!"
This year I'm planting the garlic in another box (I track all my plantings every season to ensure that all the crops are rotated each year) and the onions in the strawberry bed. I've heard great things about the benefits of companion planting strawberries and onions, and since the strawberries thinned out a bit this year, there's plenty of room there!
We've had several nights of frost already out here in East TN, so last weekend we attached the frost cover to the large garden box to cover the lettuces and carrots I just planted.

 I know there are easy instructions online to create a cold box or greenhouse, but I don't want anything permanent that might be in the way of larger plants in the spring, so we use cinder blocks and buckets to keep the frost blanket propped up above the plants. We attached it on the back side using some scrap wood and screws, so the edge is flat and secure, and weigh down the front with logs and bricks, so I can easily get into it to tend and pick.

On warmer, sunny days I prop the blanket up to allow the plants some fresh air and sunshine, but the Agribon AG-30 frost blanket we use allows sun and water through, so it's not necessary daily.

I recently planted leaf, bibb, gourmet leaf, and four season lettuces in there, and all appear to be sprouting. The carrots are beginning to poke their heads out, so we'll see how everything does!

I still have to put the mini-greenhouses on the citrus trees, and do some more cleaning up, so I'll post new pictures again soon :)

New plants this year

So I seem to be awful at keeping this updated, it's November and my last post was July! Just to catch everyone up, here are some photos of new plants we put in this year:

This is the arrowwood bush that we planted in the back yard. It's still only a twig, but hopefully it'll grow more next year. 

We planted the bird circle with a tulip tree and iris, the tree is already over 4 feet tall, and the iris are starting to spread out. 

We got this butterfly bush from Nanie on our visit to NC. It's doing great next to the patio, and already attracting butterflies!

We bought this Carolina Jasmine to grow up the arbor next to the patio.

This is a Gray Dogwood tree we planted this spring.

Some new mints next to the porch, Chocolate, Peppermint, and Lemon. 

The Rose of Sharon bushes around the bird circle. 

A Trumpet vine we planted to grow up the door out front.