Tomorrow the weather is going to change here in California. We expect the temps to drop down to freezing at the garden on Sunday and Monday nights, so the first thing that I helped with today was to put up some row cover over our green bean plants. They are full of flowers, and I am hoping to harvest beans the week before Thanksgiving.
The row cover will act as a temporary greenhouse. The weather will be the real determinant of how well this works. Hopefully, the temperature is not too low for too long. Green beans don't like it cold. We plant them late with our fingers crossed.
The next order of business was to put some bird netting over the lettuce seedlings that I planted last week. On Monday, I noticed that something was eating them. I put down Sluggo, a snail and slug bait. Today noticed that the bait was gone, and the plants didn't look any better.
We had the same problem last year. The birds pick at the plants and then eat the bait too. This year, the situation has not been as bad as it was last fall when we planted next to a line of trees that are home to a family of birds.
Swiss Chard
We direct seeded our swiss chard this fall. Because of our warmer climate, we can do this and then thin the seedlings by pulling out most of the plants, leaving about 8 inches between each one. Thinning allows more nutrition for each plant, so they grow big and healthy in the winter.
We had one spaghetti squash per member today, which finished off this variety. This year our harvest wasn't as prolific as last year, but we have lots of butternuts to send for the remainder of the fall.
Broccoli or Green Cabbage
We had four cabbage heads ready to pick today. There are about ten more coming from this first planting. Then there was broccoli that is now big enough to select the first large head. We harvested enough broccoli for everyone else, about 16 baskets.
Multi-Colored Carrots
We pulled more carrots again. They are already getting huge. Carrots, along with other vegetables, will sweeten with the oncoming cold. The plant protects itself from freezing by turning its starches into sugar. The sugar lowers the freezing point, so the cell walls don't break.
Lettuce Heads
We sent out romaine and red butter lettuce today, one head for each member. We have another 20 heads left of these two varieties. Then green leaf lettuce will go out two weeks from today.
Radishes
We planted many French breakfast radishes. Then the Bragrada bugs attacked the seedlings I mentioned a month ago. They finally came back. I had so much produce ready last week we left them in the ground, and now they are huge. We sorted out the extra-large ones and sent everything that was in good condition.
Chioggia Beets
We continued to pick the largest beets that were ready today. We will have a few more next week, and then we will probably wait until January for the next round already in the ground.
Snow Peas
There were a few handfuls of snow peas to send out to everyone. As pests attacked our pea planting, we haven't had a good harvest this fall. Fortunately, we were able to pick these before the upcoming cold front. I don't expect them to survive. Peas don't like the heat or the cold and make a great fall and spring crop.
Cucumber
This week we pulled out the plants and sent out one last cucumber to each member. These are now gone until June.
Hot and Sweet Peppers
The pepper plants are still in the ground, but these plants will all die with the cold the next time I see them.
Next week, still more planting to do, including onions, garlic, and fava beans.
Have a great week,
Julie Moreno