Dec So Cal Garden - what is yours doing? And what to plant now

Here is my Dec report. I was away the last 2 weeks of November and missed the first frosts and any chance of covering the plants. As it turned out - not a problem. All of the stuff I planted for this season did fine, but I lost the remaining summer plants - to be expected. There were days when the weather in Massachusetts wasn't much different than here in So Cal.

Here is the visual:

Bye bye sweet potatoes. The green is now black but I haven't yet dug up the tubers. I will be interested to see how many were mature enough to eat and how they fared in the cold.


The brassica. lettuce, carrot, beets and peas garden is doing fine. Picked some peas today. Lost the last pepper plant I left in but was still able to get a pepper off of it so the frost must have been light and did not last too long.


The herbs: Lost the basil - front row - but was surprised to see that dill and cilantro made it through. And the garlic of course.


Newest lettuce, peas, brassicas garden doing fine


Overview - a little the worse for wear and I have lots of work the next few days but overall I am thrilled.


What to plant in Dec in So Cal:
Beets
Broccoli
Brussel Sprouts
Cabbage
Carrots
Cauliflower
Leeks
Lettuce
Onions Bunching
Onions/Garlic sets
Parsley
Peas
Potatoes
Spinach

Great update ...love the pics

Question:

Lost the last pepper plant I left in but was still able to get a pepper off of it so the frost must have been light and did not last too long

Whats he "drop-dead' temp for the peppers??

I've also got some yellow bell peppers on my plants & I'm playing the "just one more day & maybe they'll turn color" game. I'm in the 35-45F temp range all week ..... They're huge, they are well past maturity date, they are absolutely lovely ....just not yellow yet ....


So what your opinion on whether to roll-the-dice, or stop playing with fire & just pick them, before they get ruined by a bad night of weather?

I don't know the answer to that. The peppers themselves were OK. The plant leaves had turned black though so the plant is more tender than the fruits apparently. As long as it hangs in there, who knows. They told me it got as low as 29 degrees F a few nights in a row so that is below freezing and they were OK. So they are tougher than you might think.

Also, maybe if you made a hoop house and threw some plastic over it it would be warm enough to change color if that is the issue.

Chopper did you move? How is your garden?

The move keeps getting delayed. And I have not planted because I did not think I would be here so I am in limbo right now. What I have is doing well, bu they are Spring things and it is getting too hot for them. I am looking at some temporary garden withdrawal!