As a native East Coaster, Autumn in this part of California has never been one of my favorite seasons. Many years, it is simply an extension of summer that can overstay its welcome well into October. But the summer weather in September and October is unreliable, and seems to be getting more so.
Even when it’s sunny and hot in the Fall, it is difficult to ensure we’ll have summer crops to harvest during that time. Most of our warm-season crops are actually planted when it’s cool, in the spring, and tend to finish up before Labor Day. Normally our last planting of Tomatoes goes in the ground in May — those are the ones we are currently harvest for your boxes. Planting any later than that is very risky, as the transplants can easily die if the temperature goes over 105 within a week after they go into the ground — a fairly common event in June. This year we did a small planting of tomatoes in mid-June and got lucky: they survived and are growing nicely.
The only crop that we transplant in July is Watermelon, which is one of the most heat-tolerant crop we grow. Cantelopes and summer squash are planted directly into the soil in July as well and produce well through September. Corn and Green Beans also get direct seeded in July for harvest in the fall, although the seeds and seedlings can and sometimes do get cooked if the temperatures get too hot.
Generally speaking, all of our warm-season crops are intolerant of either rain or cold or both. They are also affected by the shortening of the days, which causes them to slow their growth and affects their ability to resist and tolerate plant diseases and insects. That can happen any time after the Fall Equinox.
It would be nice if we could have cool-season crops ready by that date. But most of those crops that would mature in September require 60 days or longer of growing time, which means planting in July. We have wait to start planting until mid-August or later, which means no harvest until mid-October at the earliest of Lettuce, Broccoli or Cabbage. Even then, we often have to work around the hottest weather, speeding up or delaying planting until after a heatwave passes. This week, for example, we are pushing back planting of Celery — one of the least heat-tolerant crops we grow — by seven days.
We do reliably have lots of one crop to harvest in September, though: Winter Squash, which gets planted in late spring and harvested between Labor Day and Halloween. The “Winter” in its name comes from its ability to store into that season, as long as it is kept dry and warm as compared to the weather outside. Peppers, which are planted in the spring but tend to grow slowly all summer, are also normally prolific.
Despite the heatwave in the forecast, it doesn’t feel to me like we’re going to have an “endless summer” this year. In some ways it feels like it never really even started here — much less in the chillier regions of the Bay Area. I’m hoping for a continuation of the Goldilocks conditions we’ve had for months now, which would be conducive to both the warm- and cool-season crops we’ve got growing.
Thanks,