October 18, 2018

Good morning, it was a strange day last Monday, the forecast high was supposed to be 38. And through the course of the day it would settle down to near freezing at sunset. This caused me to think with covers the garden would be fine.

I still had my eye on the thermometer.  Monday was not one of those days that I wanted to be outside, overcast, drizzle and 33 degrees at sunrise. No prob because at sunrise the temp would rise.  When it started to slowly drop, I did not know where the bottom would be.

On Sunday I had harvested the okra down to small pods and all the toms that had a blush. I did think that even though it would be cool to cold that everything else in the garden would be fine. No big deal since it would be overcast. This changed on Monday when at 9 AM the temp started to drift downward. At 32.5 I decided that the rest of the garden needed to be harvested. There were eggplants, chilies and a ton of green tomatoes. And the task was completed as the thermometer settled at 31.5 for the rest of the day and through the night. Of course, this whole time it was drizzling, overcast and a cutting north wind. All good indicators for not having a hard freeze. Having been burned with surprise deep freezes I was glad I had decided to finish the harvest.

Wednesdays are my usual greens harvest day. It was plain nasty out. I wimped out as the forecast was predicted to have improving conditions for the rest of the week. The cool damp was fine but the north breeze was cutting. So, I did decide to postpone the greens harvest until Thursday. I did look under the covers and it looked like there would be a normal harvest of chard, kale, lettuce, green onions and carrots.

The thermometer never did slip any further than the 31.5-degree mark and I was not sure what that would do to the summer veggie plants. A day of warmth and sun may cause the plants to wither. But at this time, I do not see any freeze damage. I am glad that I did harvest none the less.

Now it will be interesting as to how long until a real hard freeze. There are all kinds of blossoms out in the garden, and even though everything of size has been harvested, there is no need to rush on pulling plants, so, I think we will see how long until a freeze. There just might be more to harvest or maybe not. Time will tell.

I did get most all of my winter greens planted. There are a couple of different items that still need to be planted. What with my ankle in September I missed the sweet spot for planting. I am not sure how this will affect these plants that I like to harvest during the cooler West Texas time. We will just have to see what happens. Never a dull moment. I am ready for a change in the weather.

Follows is an updated list of what I am growing, please email as to availability and prices. Chard, kale, green onions, carrots, lettuce, okra, tomatoes, chilies (several varieties), eggplant, butternut squash, garlic, beets, sweet potatoes, and beans. Also, there is volunteer basil and dill.