Frost checklist for the edible garden

 

Saturday, October 14, 2023

With frost in the air, summer loving veggies are coming to the end of their season.  Veggies like tomatoes, eggplant, zucchini, cucumber, basil, and peppers do not like cold weather.  It is time to harvest the last of the summer veggies and get the cold crops the protection they need to continue producing through fall and winter.

In our garden, tomatoes, peppers, green beans, summer squash, eggplant, husk cherries, goji berries, onions, and shallots are still producing.   They can continue to produce until the first hard freeze.  Continue to pick daily.  You can cover your plants with a lightweight row cover if you are going to have just a short spell of frosty nights. 

Basil is still doing great, but turns black when bitten with the first frost.  Harvest all remaining basil when they call for low temperatures of 36 or below to be on the safe side.  I make lots of pesto and freeze.  Makes for a super quick and tasty meal any time.  Basil basics-harvesting, preserving, growing basil

Before the first freeze, I will take all the fruits off the eggplant, tomato, pepper, green bean, husk cherry and squash plants.  I may take in a couple of the potted pepper and eggplants if there are quite a few baby fruits on them to harvest those as well. 

I'll freeze the extra husk cherries, goji berries, tomatoes and peppers.  Eggplant doesn't freeze well so I'll eat those fresh or make baba ghanoush dip to freeze.  Summer squash, I'll eat as many fresh as possible, the rest I'll make into zoodles and freeze to use in place of spaghetti.  How to use all your zucchini-really

I'll take all of last year's frozen tomatoes and make into sauce for the winter.  I like waiting until it is cooler before canning!  This year, I have a few jars of sauce left from last year and not many leftover frozen quarts of sliced tomatoes so I'll only be canning a few jars this season.   Preserving the tomato harvest

Of course, you can try the yummy fried green tomatoes too!  A late fall tradition-fried green tomatoes!

Now is also a great time to divide any perennials you have, whether they be herbs, edibles or ornamentals.  This will give them all fall and winter to put down strong roots.  Perennial greens are always the first up in the spring.  Midwest Perennial Vegetable Garden

Now is the time to order your mini greenhouse to extend the season.  I'll put mine out over the greens in my Earthboxes to keep the lettuce and greens going all winter when they are calling for a freeze.  Preparing for a hard freeze

Portable greenhouse for winter greens