As warm season vegetables finish in the garden, they maybe replaced with cool season vegetables. If tomatoes are left as long as their fruit will ripen, they may be continue minimal production for a short while, depending on the weather. In the past, we have managed to get a few tomatoes until the plants were finally damaged by frost. Green tomatoes too young to ripen are excellent pickled. (We can ours for convenience, but in my opinion, those which are not cooked are best.) The last of figs, pears and late apples will also be finishing their cycles.

Incidentally, if you ever wondered if tomatoes are fruits or vegetables, they are, by definition, fruit. Anything containing seeds is a fruit. In fact many other “vegetables”, such as corn, squash, beans and cucumbers are actually fruit. Those which are leaves, such as cabbage; roots, such as beets; or flowers, such as broccoli are real vegetables because they are derived from vegetative plant parts.

Cool season vegetables which are seeded directly in the garden this time of year include peas, beets, turnips, carrots (yuck!) and radishes. Brussels sprouts, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, shallots, leeks, green onions, spinach and various lettuce may be seeded or planted from seedlings or young plants. Peas produce until warm spring weather and should not require additional replanting. However, all the other vegetables should be planted in small quantities approximately every two weeks so that they are ready for use at different times rather than all of each type maturing at the same time.