Bit but not Dead. Brrrr

Well we may not have suffered as much as those up north, but we still had our share of the cold this last week. I hope everyone came through the hard freezes alright and without any busted pipes. We got down to around 21 degrees and did not even reach the thawing point of 32 degrees on one day. I spent most of the week thumbing through the new seed catalogs that have been arriving already, to start planning for next season's garden.
The only thing I have growing in the garden right now is turnip green and the cold even made them wilt slightly for several days. We did enjoy fresh greens and blackeyed peas on News Year's day. I have seen local roadside stands with citrus, cabbage, and greens to sell.
If you had outdoor plants that were damaged by the cold, hold off on cutting them back until the weather warms as the tougher stems may still be alive and sprout out in the spring. Now of course any tender annuals that are dead can be pulled up to clean up the garden and do away with hiding places for overwintering bugs or their eggs. Now is the time of year to prune back grape vines, fruit trees, and rose bushes, as well as setting out new ones.