Some of the more knowledgeable gardeners will be along but until they get here, I'll give a few opinions.

I wonder how much sun your carrots get. Spindliness is usually a lack of light problem. But those don't look too bad to me.

It's been years since we raised peanuts, but we always waited until after a light frost to dig them--or right before a hard freeze if the first frost was forcast to be hard.

Dawn will know which of the brassica-loving worms your little white one was but I usually have less trouble in the fall than in the spring with them. I just squish the ones I find or in a heavy infestation dust with Dipel.

Don't pull up all your beets. Here again, Dawn will know the name of the little pest that glues leaves together. I just crush the thing in the middle of the folded together leaf when I find it. You're lucky to get fall beets. The grasshoppers got mine last fall and this fall I didn't even try.

thanks so much for your input. you might have a point on the carrots...the ones looking the puniest (is that a word?!) are right up against the south side of a 2x6.

this is really my first year to try anything other that tomatoes and peppers... i have found the tomatoes to be pretty discouraging in the past few years, and thought i might have better luck, and something to actually put on the table if i branched out and got to exploring! i am lovin' it!! who knew that a salad grown in your own back yard didn't taste like the stuff from the store... not me, and now i'll do everything i can not to have to buy it ever again :)

we've got a cold frame we built this summer waiting....

i'm learning so much just reading these forums...

I have no advice but just wanted to let you know I am so excited that there is another SF Gardener in Jenks! Your garden looks nice! I had no idea we could grow peanuts here. YUM.

Jo

Dody, Dorothy IS one of the more knowledgeable and more experienced gardeners here and I agree with everything she said.

CARROTS: With the carrots, without knowing how often you water or how well the soil does or does not hold moisture and without knowing how much light they get, I think they might be staying a tiny bit too dry or getting too little direct sunlight. I do think the ones closest to the raised beds' wooden edging might be too crowded too. If today was the first time you noticed drooping, it could be a slight reaction to last night's cooler temps.

PEANUTS: I don't grow them, but they're a commercial crop in our county (though not as much as they used to be) and I've noticed about half the fields are harvested right now. I think that here the harvest doesn't end until almost November so think you can leave yours in the ground a bit longer.

CATERPILLARS ON BRASSICA CROPS: Cats are almost always a problem on all brassica family crops. I tend to handpick them (wearing medical-type nitrile gloves) and either drop them into a dish of soapy water to drown them or feed them to my chickens. They most commonly are found on the underside of the plant's leaves. You also can use Bt 'kurstaki' as Dorothy suggested, and it is available in a powdered form (Dipel) or a liquid form (many are available, Bonide's Thuricide is the one I see most in stores here). There are various kinds of caterpillars that target brassica family crops and they tend to be more of an issue in spring, but sometimes in the fall as well. In my garden, the pests usually are the Cabbage Loopers or Imported Cabbage Worms but some folks have the larvae of the Diamondback moths too.

BEETS: These likely have the same pests as the rutabagas so the solution would be the same.

Dawn

thanks dawn and dorothy (my "real" name is dorothy, btw :)) lots of good info and i'll get that dipel tomorrow. i have the feeling i'll be needing it :)

lookie who i just found hanging out in the rutabagas...

i think it's some kind of tent caterpillar(?), but i don't know for sure...

jo, this is my first year doing sfq, and so far, i'm loving it! wish i had more room, but i'm here in jenks proper (by city hall) and only have a city size lot....

had a salad out of the garden tonite with all my little baby greens, basil, dill and cilantro... amazing.

I think army cutworm. (The stripe is diagnostic.) They feed at the surface of the soil, cutting seedlings off when they are small. Bt will control them too, although I usually just step on them.