by Karen McSwain, CFSA’s Organic Initiative Coordinator
With frost looming on the horizon, there are a number of things you should be thinking about. First, it’s time to pull out the remay and get it laid out next to crops you plan on covering to make it through the chilly nights. I find here in the mountains, we always get a frost around the middle of October, have a few chilly nights, and then tend to be frost free for a few more weeks. If you can get your frost-sensitive crops through those first few cold nights, you can continue harvesting them for a few more weeks. Second, keep a close eye on the weather. While I usually check the weather daily, this time of year, I don’t skip a day. The last thing you want is to be working long into the night, covering crops and harvesting those that will not make it.
That’s why, a day or two before a frost I harvest everything that I know will not make it through; tomatoes, eggplant, summer squash, and peppers. I have been told that if you wrap tomatoes in newspaper and keep them in the closet, you may have the joy of eating one on Christmas Eve. I have never managed to keep them around long enough to do that. If you are selling at market once you tell your customers it’s the end of the tomatoes and peppers till next summer, you should have no problem selling your bounty. If you want to keep some for yourselves, peppers can be frozen fresh, and I always have a freezer full of frozen breaded eggplant to make eggplant parmesan all winter long. Yum!
Have questions about season extension? Get in touch!