Monthly Archives: November 2024

Mid-November Garden Doing Really Well

Wow, the mid-November garden continues to produce like crazy! Yesterday, 11/10, I think I harvested the biggest head of cauliflower I have ever raised. It was about 10 inches in diameter and probably weighed at least five pounds (see two pictures below). This was the first cauliflower harvested this fall. The variety of cauliflower I am growing is a hybrid called “Snow Crown.” I have five more cauliflower plants still in the garden, most of these are at or reaching maturity, but none will be that big (at least I think). I will probably harvest at least one more head today. On the few cold mornings we have had, I had all of these cauliflower plants covered with row covers. I might have to cover them again over the next few mornings as the lows are predicted to get into the low to mid 30’s. I will also cover the cabbage, kohlrabi, lettuce and carrots. The Scarlet Nantes carrots are doing really well (see picture below). I will probably not harvest any carrots for another month or so. The fall broccoli has really grown well and all of the main heads have now been harvested, with a fair amount of side shoots still growing. The fall cabbage and kohlrabi have also grown very well and harvest continues on them as well. The weather has been mostly warmer than normal over the past two weeks or so with some decent rain over the last week. I will probably not have to do any more watering this year. About 10 days ago, I was able to plant the top-setting onions, but the ground then was very hard and dry, which made planting a struggle. After planting, I watered them in real good and covered them with shredded tree leaves and a small row cover (to keep the squirrels from digging them up). The August planted lettuce continues to grow nicely and the lettuce I let go to seed finally sprouted on the other end of the bed (see picture below). Fall is a great time to garden, but I have had a hard time convincing some gardeners of this fact. Happy late fall gardening!!

First Head of Cauliflower Awaiting Harvest, Picture Taken 11-10-24
Ginormous Head of Cauliflower Harvested, Picture Taken 11-10-24
Scarlet Nantes Carrots Growing Nicely, Picture Taken 11-10-24
August Planted Sierra Lettuce (Bottom) and Self Seeded Sierra Lettuce Finally Starting to Grow (Top), Picture Taken 11-10-24