Avoidance

I'm only going to pontificate on weather and crops today.  The puerile politics our nation has descended to makes my stomach turn.  Anyway, it looks like we are finally going to get some fall weather here on the NCR.  By Saturday night the tomatoes and hopefully the galinsoga will be history.  Because the lows will remain in the upper 20s and low 30s for the rest of next week, the hardy veg will be fine.  The last cauliflower and broccoli plantings should continue to bulk up and the spinach will continue to grow.  If the deer leave the beet tops and carrot foliage alone they will get larger also.   The last few forlorn heads of lettuce will hang on until we get to the mid 20s, but it has been a good run for lettuce this year.  The head lettuce growers who still have crops in the ground are reaping a bonanza as the California lettuce in the Huron growing area is virtually non-existent due to water restrictions.  That means iceberg will be scarce until the Florida  and Yuma deals begin in December.  With FOBs in the mid to upper $20s in Quebec, growers are set to finish on a high note.  As I predicted 10 years ago, the season continues to expand.  We are now at least 2 weeks past the traditional end of lettuce in the North Country.  With California's continued weather woes, I can predict imaginative growers who will try to extend the season further as the weather continues to warm.  Newer varieties which can cope with our warmer summers followed by others which can mature in the shorter days of October and November will eventually find us eating local salads for US Thanksgiving.