Down to 37 tonight - should I pick all the tomatoes?

[desertlzbn]

Jeesh, it is still in the 100's here, it did rain tonight so that brought the temp down to about 85. It rained almost 1 1/2 inches in about 3 hours.
my yard was a river.

[barkeater]

Tomato season is over for me after picking last night anyway so I will for the first year be spared the chore of covering and uncovering with row covers for the next three weeks as usually is the case. My VT tomatoes got late blight a couple weeks ago brought in I guess from Irene, and my NY tomatoes are extremely cracked and split from a severe drought in July then extreme rains the past month. I should still have enough good fresh tomatoes to eat for the next couple weeks but will only have 8-9 quarts of tomato sauce put up, only a third of normal.

[tam91]

34??? Bigger eeeek. Better get picking my hot peppers I guess, wow.

[BigBrownDogHouse]

Originally Posted by tam91

34??? Bigger eeeek. Better get picking my hot peppers I guess, wow.

Hi Tam91!

Another cool one tonight, 38, and then a bit of an upswing. I think last night was the worst and it looks like everything is okay this morning. We should be okay in our area for the next week or so according to NWS.

It's a beautiful, clear, crisp morning out there.

It was up to 105 here in North Texas a couple of days ago. Nights have been mid seventies. Today the highs will be high seventies and lows into the fifties. I love the cooler air. This has been the summer from hell with heat that melts the highways and wildfires burning almost two thousand homes in Texas alone.

I can't complain about my garden though. It was planted early enough in the spring to produce a bumper crop of everything I planted, especially tomatoes. When the heat arrived in early June, I should have shut the garden down and started preparing it for the fall garden. Everything simply withered and died in the heat. I kept trying to nurse the garden through the heat with shade cloths and extra water, but it was a waste of time.

I now have my fall garden planted and everything is looking good with fresh cucumbers, squash, lettuce, tomatoes, and a few other things growing well.. We should have a couple of months of nice weather before the first frost arrives. I'm looking forward to eating some home grown tomatoes for our Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners. We should still be eating a few tomatoes from this years garden when I plant the seeds under lights for next years garden.

It's always a challenge to grow a garden, but it's always worth the effort.

Ted

[BigBrownDogHouse]

Originally Posted by tedln

It's always a challenge to grow a garden, but it's always worth the effort.

Ted

It sure is. For me this is really a tough time of year. My babies that I started last Feb are hanging on for dear life. I can't complain though. I had a heck of a Summer.

[Mudman]

Very heavy frost here last night. I am glad I picked everything I wanted to save. All melons, squash, cucs, tomatoes, and peppers are goners. What a roller-coaster of temperatures we had here this year! Hot early spring, then cold wet spring right after a day of record breaking heat, about a week or so of heat indexes in the 110's, and now early frost. It is always exciting when your hobby is dependent on the weather!

[Douglas14]

Hard frost here as well.

[Gobig_or_Gohome_toms]

No frost here I think the lake helped keep me above freezing.

Craig

[tam91]

I think everything survived here. The garden is being a bit neglected, I have houseguests plus extras. But it looks ok. My garden is a bit sheltered, usually gets frost later than the more open areas.

[Mudman]

Amazingly after one night at 30 and one at or below 28 about a week ago, a few of my tomatoes and a cantaloupe are still producing! I thought I was done with tomatoes and there are now a lot more in my garden that need picking.