What's happening in the early November edible garden

Lettuce ready to be covered for winter

 

Sunday, November 8, 2020

Well, we had our first hard frost last week in our Zone 6/7 garden.  The temperature got down to 28 degrees F.  It was cold enough to bite the tomatoes, eggplant, dahlias, basil, zinnias, morning glories, and pepper plants.  

I could have used a fabric cover to protect these cold sensitive veggies and they would have been fine for this temperature.  I have gotten a good harvest from all of them so was fine to let them go for the year.  The peppers weren't bit as bad so I was able to harvest the fruits on the plant and bring them in to finish ripening.  The cayenne pepper that was close to the house was not affected at all.  I may bring it in for the winter.  I have had great luck overwintering cayennes.  Gives you a couple months head start on the season in the spring.

When a frost is forecasted, you should harvest all the warm season crop fruit and any basil you want.  A frost will turn basil black and damage not only the leaves, but also the fruits on the plant.

If you had a pepper, eggplant or tomato plant that was just superb, I would consider bringing it inside for the winter.  All are tender perennials and may survive.  Make sure to give them full sun. 

You could also put the potted tomatoes, eggplant and peppers in a greenhouse and lengthen the season for at least another 4 weeks. 

The cold season crops like lettuce, cabbage, kale, broccoli, cultivated dandelions, spinach, onions, mustard, sorrel are very happy.  The celery is still going strong.  It doesn’t seem to be affected by heat or cold.  We harvest from it year round.  You can bring it into the garage or keep in a greenhouse and harvest from it all winter.

The rest of the herbs are doing very well-thyme, oregano, chives, dill, rosemary, sage, bay, parsley, mint, tarragon.  I will bring the stevia plant in for the winter.  I will also try bringing in Malabar spinach and New Zealand spinach.  I haven't tried to overwinter these, so it will be an experiment.

I transplanted the hardy greens from the garden I want to harvest over the winter into the pots that I keep under a portable greenhouse for eating during the fall and winter months.  I also moved pots of Rat's Tail radish on over.

I have broccoli, cabbage and cauliflower in the garden bed.  They should do well there without cover into winter.  I do have a couple of portable row covers I may try to extend the season further if they haven't fully matured for harvesting by mid-December.

Time to settle in for cooler weather!