Yes, carrots ARE sweeter after a frost!

You are right. This is a cabbage. We did, in fact, eat the carrots before the photo shoot.

This year we did well by our fall crops. Clearly, the most important first step was that we, actually, planted our fall crops! Fall planting time can easily sneak by us. We started the seedlings in a cooler protected environment, covered the plants with row cover to deter the voracious insects of late summer, and covered them with row cover or plastic when freezing weather came in. We were rewarded with spinach and kale as well as delicious crunchy carrots, cabbage, collards, and broccoli made sweeter by the cold! We were fooled a couple times by warming trends after the first frosts. Thinking that the bugs would not be active after the freeze, row covers came off and, don’t you know it, bugs (caterpillars) came in. Next year, I’d like to plant more confidently….meaning, planting more and having a solid plan for storing surplus. We are grateful for the extra abundance from the garden to supplement our stored winter squash, pumpkin, sweet potatoes, and dried beans. Yum!