(HBH-MEDIA-photography / Pixabay)
All those green tomatoes still on the vine are in for a shock this week.
A relatively balmy fall saw vegetable gardens rebound after a hot, dry, stressful summer, but that second growth spurt is about to come to an end as November kicks off with a string of below average temperatures in the Chicago region, according to the National Weather Service.
The mercury will dip well below freezing at night — cold enough in some places to be considered a hard or killing frost — except along the immediate lakeshore, the agency said.
Though the forecast is a bummer for summer crops, lots of leafy greens and root vegetables can withstand a light or even hard frost. In fact, it makes some of them sweeter, so maybe now's the time to give kale a try.
Similar day-to-day and night-to-night weather is ahead. Temperatures will be below normal for the first days of November. The extended growing season will come to an end with several nights of widespread sub-freezing temperatures this week. #ILwx #INwx pic.twitter.com/FWQVhCyWWu
— NWS Chicago (@NWSChicago) October 31, 2021
Contact Patty Wetli: @pattywetli | (773) 509-5623 | [email protected]
