Monthly Archives: November 2024

Late November Garden Still Producing, First Snow

The late November garden is still producing, but it is definitely getting colder now. Central Indiana had its first measurable snow of the fall season on November 21st, about 2.5 inches of wet snow, after having been near 70 degrees two days before that!! I had the cabbage, kohlrabi, and the two last remaining cauliflower plants covered with row covers, and they did fine (see pics below). The carrots and lettuce continue to be covered with plastic covered hoops. Despite the weather, I have continued to harvest cabbage, kohlrabi, cauliflower. I have probably harvested the last of the lettuce for this year. I will let most of the smaller lettuce seedlings that self-seeded this fall continue to grow all winter under the hoop (although some will probably not make it to spring). The carrots are probably ready to harvest, but I will not start harvesting them for another few weeks. I harvested all of the brussels sprouts that I could over the last few days. The crop this year was very poor, due to all of the insect pressure. Despite the cold, aphids continue to be a major issue on the brussels sprouts this fall. I have never seen aphids this bad in the garden before. They have even started to spread to the remaining cabbage, kohlrabi, and cauliflower plants. All of The broccoli has been harvested and I opened up that part of the bed to let my chickens feast on the remaining plants (see pic below). Right before the snow, on November 20th, I picked the last of the jalapeno and banana peppers, which is the latest I have ever picked peppers! I was even able to harvest some Red Norland potatoes yesterday (see pic below). These were left over volunteer potatoes that came up from the spring cop. The top-setting onions I planted in late October have now started to shoot up green shoots. The weather forecast for the next two weeks is for cold temperatures (with lows under 20 degrees). With all of that cold predicted, I will be harvesting all of the remaining cabbage, kohlrabi, and cauliflower in the next few days, so my refrigerators should be packed full of produce. Time to make some coleslaw and sauerkraut. Happy Thanksgiving!!

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Cabbage Under the Snow Covered Row Cover, Picture Taken 11-21-24
Snow Covered Garden With Cabbage and Kohlrabi (Foreground) Under Row Covers, Picture Taken 11-21-24
Two Cauliflower Plants Under Snow Covered Row Covers, Picture Taken 11-21-24
One Jalapeno and One Banana Pepper Plant Covered With Snow, Picture Taken 11-21-24
Volunteer Red Norland Potatoes Harvest, Picture Taken 11-26-24
Chickens Feasting on the Leftover Broccoli Plants, Picture Taken 11-13-24

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