Well, a hard freeze hit the garden on October 31st, with lows hitting 23 degrees. The cool season plants that I wanted to protect were covered with row covers and they survived, although I had my doubts. The brussels spouts were not covered (it is hard, if not impossible, to cover those, being that some of the plants are almost five foot tall). Despite not being covered the brussels sprouts did fine as they seem to tolerate cold very well. Before the freeze I was able to harvest some of the last peppers and tomatoes. I also harvested the first three of the six cauliflower heads on October 29th, they were huge! (see one of pics below). I still have two heads of cauliflower in the garden. The lettuce continues to grow very well, which was covered with a plastic covered hoop. I always let some of my Sierra lettuce plants self-seed in the fall, which have really taken hold in half of the lettuce plot. The carrots were also covered with a plastic covered hoop. I will be harvesting more of the carrots as we move through November and December. The harvest has pretty much finished up on the broccoli. The fall broccoli did really well this year. I did manage to harvest a few heads of cabbage and one head of kohlrabi over the last few weeks, with many more to come. I have some really giant heads of kohlrabi still in the garden. I will be harvesting those over the next month or so. I was able to plant seven small rows of topsetting onions (these were the ones that were saved from this years plants) out into the garden in the last week of October. I covered these with some dry leaves and then temporarily covered them with a row cover to keep the squirrels from digging them up until they grow some roots.
Since the hard freeze, the weather has turned warmer, but it is still very dry in the garden. I have been watering the carrots about every three days. The rest of the plants seem to be doing okay without additional watering. The 2023 gardening season is winding down, but if the weather stays warm enough, I should be harvesting up and into December.
