We had a frost last week that trashed my tomatoes, basil and zucchini. Then it turned warm again, downright summery actually. I'm still harvesting broccoli and basil and, somewhat remarkably, a tomato plant up by my house -- a volunteer that appeared after I rinsed out the compost bucket -- was unscathed. Apparently the frost was patchy and only affected the field, which is a bit downhill. I'm in a valley so lower means colder.
I had a grilled veggie sub for lunch consisting entirely of vegetables I grew myself. I still have zucchini in the fridge, plenty of onions left, and I harvested the broccoli this morning. It's the side shoots that appear after the main heads have been cut, which happened a while ago. You won't find those in the grocery store, but they're worth it for home gardeners.
Anyway one lesson is that I'm going to build a cold frame, which can protect tender plants from an early frost and take hearty ones right into the winter. I have a lot of plexiglass panels harvested from converting a sun porch to a four season room, so I might as well use a couple. I'm also going to do proper preparation of the garden beds for next year. I'm basing my plans on The Vegetable Gardener's Bible, by Edward C. Smith, which I definitely recommend.
If civilization collapses I'll be ready, at least by next July.
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