Cold weather is coming. It is November, after all! On Monday Melea, Skylar and I harvested all the remaining peppers and eggplant. The peppers and eggplant are the last of the frost sensitive plants that are still producing. A couple of nights in the low thirties would damage any fruit still on the plant. Today we moved all the sweet potatoes from the high tunnel into a warm room in the wash/pack to keep them above 40 degrees for storage.
Time to disconnect and drain hoses at night. And I had better check the light bulb at the well is working. Winter is a completely different mindset. I’m not quite ready for it. It feels like fall just got here.
For most of what is growing in the field, some freezing nights should be fine. Especially since we have had a gradual decrease in night time temperatures. We will pick any peas and broccoli before it freezes. Even though the plants themselves can easily withstand a freeze, the broccoli heads and pea pods would be ruined by freezing. We will probably cover up the bok choy and lettuce with frost blankets to be on the safe side. If the bok choy stems freeze they lose their crunch and get pithy.
It can be hard to predict exactly how cold weather will impact the vegetable crops. The temperature isn’t the only factor. And sometimes the forecast is inaccurate. I’ve been wrong before and lost crops because of it. Let’s hope I get it right this time around.
Small Shares
- Sweet potatoes
- Carrots
- diakon radish
- Kale
- Eggplant
- Head lettuce
- Cabbage
Full Shares
- Sweet potatoes
- Carrots
- diakon radish
- Kale
- Eggplant
- Head lettuce
- Cabbage
- Sweet peppers
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