We have continued to be warm for the month of October but have finally escaped the intense heat of September and early October. Temperatures have been in the 70s to low 80s during the day and dropping into the 50s at night. Mid-October saw a few nights around 40 degrees and some light patchy frost in the very lowest areas. We did receive some rain but, overall, the month has been very dry. I have had 2.10 inches of rain for the month, and this is a couple inches less than last year, when in mid-October our drought started to break, and we ended up with 4.66 inches for October 2025. As we all know, all it takes is one good front to push through with some rain to help us rebound.
Out in the field, apple harvest is winding down with only a few late varieties remaining to harvest. The pumpkin season has been very good overall. Weekends have been very nice and mostly sunny, with the last few being exceptionally nice. Temperatures have been cool enough to put people in the mood for fall and decorating. The warm conditions have kept powdery mildew on the move, but with the season slowing down, it hasn’t been problematic. At our farm, we did catch a light frost about the middle of the month which took out most of the pumpkin leaves, but it was not enough to cause much discoloration on any fruit.
My fall broccoli and cauliflower plantings are doing well. I started harvesting the broccoli the middle of October and am a little over halfway through harvest. I transplanted the variety ‘Millenium’, and it has made nice heads and done well. The cauliflower is just now forming small heads, and, hopefully, in a few weeks, we will have some to start harvesting. Cauliflower in the fall never seems to set heads very early especially as head initiation and formation is delayed by the heat. This season I stuck to Bt (Dipel) insecticide product for my caterpillar control. I have sprayed 3 times since September (and a few times in August) and that seems to be holding up well. This type of product is nice, especially for the later sprays, as it has a very short preharvest interval. I applied sprays a week apart when it was warmer, and the heads were small. If caterpillar pests get established under the head, as it grows, it can be almost impossible to get effective spray coverage for control. We all know wormy cole crops are not a crowd pleaser!
There is still some time to seed small grain cover crops like cereal rye and wheat etc., however for many others, like legumes and brassicas, it is just too late in the season to achieve establishment, so don’t invest and expect much.