We returned from a twelve-day vacation to find that Mr. Freeze had made an early visit to our backyard while we were gone, with eggplants, tomatoes, and peppers taking major hits. It wasn't cold enough to damage the produce, but the leaves took sufficient damage to end this fruiting season. I harvested most of the eggplant, but left the green tomatoes on the vine, where I hope they'll continue to ripen. One method I've successfully used to ripen green tomatoes involves pulling up the plants and hanging them upside down in the garage. I don't see why leaving them on the vine should make any difference, unless we get another freeze.
The freeze changed the asparagus fronds from green to golden, indicating it was time to cut it all off. Some people have trouble growing asparagus here, and I think it's because it's easy during our generally mild winters to ignore their need for regenerative pruning. The asparagus cycle begins in late winter or early spring, when the green shoots appear and can be harvested and eaten. After a month or two, you need to exercise restraint and let it go so the fernlike fronds can store up food in the roots for next season's harvest. If they don't die back on their own, as they will in colder climates, you must cut them back in order to force them into dormancy. I think last year's harvest was late because I didn't cut them back until January. I cut them back today, so we'll see what happens next year.
Although most things are dying back, the roses have fully recovered from their summer slump and are blooming profusely once again. They too will need a regenerative pruning, which we usually do in January.
It's hard to get a good overview picture in December as the lengthening shadows put a good bit of the yard in shade, even at midday when I took this picture. In the background you can see another winter success story: broccoli, which is coming along nicely, along with at least some of the spinach I planted a month ago.
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