Two years ago was milder and I left the carrots and beets in until November because they were a second planting that I was trying to grow. These didn't develop enough for my liking but I did enjoy the beet greens. That year I ended up pulling the tomatoes in late October because I had them coming out my ears. My freezer was full of tomatoes for salsa and I had made batches also.
Last year was a completely different story. We had an early snowfall mid-October that killed a lot of my herbs so I didn't get to make as much pesto for the freezer as I'd like to have. I had covered the plants with sheets knowing there was a chance of a light frost but it turned out to be windy and a heavy wet snow. The tomatoes survived without being destroyed but I had to pull the plants because the leaves weren't going to make it. After that day the weather was milder again into November and I took a chance on the second seeding of carrots and beets again. This time I pushed my luck too much though. Mid-November we had a week of really cold weather and by the weekend when I had time to dig them up, the ground was frozen.
So the debate begins again.... When to call the garden done? I know for sure I'm going to harvest herbs and make the batches of pesto before mid-october, but when to pull everything else. For now I think I'll let time decide... or more aptly put, when I have time I'll decide.
