Drought Lessens, First Widespread Frost

Rain has finally arrived in the garden :-) Nearly 1.5 inches of rain fell last week, which helped with the abnormally dry soil conditions. Cooler temperatures also arrived with the rain and widespread frost was observed the last three mornings in the garden. In anticipation of the frost, I covered the two carrot plots with hoops covered with clear plastic and covered my lettuce with a hoop covered with a polypropylene row cover. I also covered my broccoli and cauliflower plants with a row cover for added protection. My cauliflower is still not quite ready to harvest, but I have been harvesting broccoli for the last 10 days or so with more to come. I also covered my celery with two layers of row covers. So far, the plants look fine. All of my warm weather plants were either killed or nearly so by the frost. I have already pulled up my six tomato plants and anticipate pulling up all of my peppers and beans soon. This is what I have been harvesting from my garden over the past two weeks: Cabbage, broccoli, brussel sprouts, lettuce, celery, green beans, lima beans, green onions, tomatoes, green peppers, and hot peppers. The leaves are already falling, so go get them and use them on your garden or in your compost pile. Shredded tree leaves also make a great mulch. Happy Gardening

Fall Broccoli Harvest, Drought Continues

I harvested the first fall broccoli heads a few days ago. They were a little smaller than normal, probably due to the abnormally hot conditions. Indianapolis had the hottest temperature every recorded in October of 91 degrees on October 8th. My cool season vegetables are struggling a bit due to the heat. It finally cooled down with high temperatures the last 4 days struggling to get into the lower 60's. The weather remains desert dry, so I continue to water. There was scattered light scattered frost yesterday morning, but it did not appear to have damaged any plants so far. I have more broccoli that will be harvested within the week. My fall planted cabbage is also ready to harvest. My late planting of cauliflower is not growing as fast, probably due to the heat. I have seen a few of the plants with very small heads just starting to form. I am not sure what kind of a cauliflower harvest I will see this year. My late planting of bush green beans continue to produce a very nice harvest. Some of my pepper plants are approaching 4 feet tall. I harvested a few more pole lima beans over the past week, with more still on the vine. Most of my brussel sprout plants are approaching 5 feet tall. I will begin harvesting these soon. My late planted lettuce is starting to grow better, especially with the cooler weather over the past 4 days. Overall, I am pleased with the fall harvest so far. The weather forecast is for appreciable rain in two days. I will believe it when I see it.