My new dead plant record that’s concerning news for NJ

I guess this could be viewed as both good and bad news, depending on how you think of it. Now that we've officially turned the page into December, it's pretty much safe to say our growing season in New Jersey is completely, most definitely over.

Although there are some cool weather plants you can still grow now, the ability to get anything started this time of year out in the elements is almost zero. I'm sure some may argue there are exceptions, but those are few and far between.

Around mid-November, I picked a few red peppers from my vegetable garden. Why was this such a big deal? Because it was mid-November. 10 years ago, that would've never happened in my part of New Jersey.

But now, that's no longer the case. In fact, last year I was able to grow peppers, a warm-weather crop, along with tomatoes, past Thanksgiving. In 2023, that was the first time ever I was able to grow warm-weather crops beyond the holiday outside without the plants being killed by overnight cold.

In 2023, I was able to go two days beyond the holiday. In 2024, I was able to go one day past Thanksgiving before the cold finally did the pepper and tomato plants in.

But, here's why that's notable. In 2023, Thanksgiving was on Nov. 23, whereas in 2024 it was on Nov. 28. That means between last year and this year, the growing season for my New Jersey garden was four days longer. And 2023 was a new record for the longest my garden had ever gone before the cold finally killed the warm-weather plants.

The fact that I was able to get to Nov. 29, just two days shy of December, is mind-boggling. My garden had 16 pepper plants this year, and this is the final crop I picked the evening of Nov. 29, just before temperatures were finally expected to cross that critical threshold.

Because the temperatures never fell below freezing in my part of New Jersey until Nov. 29, I was able to keep all of these peppers on the plants to see how far along they would ripen. As you can see, several more warmer days would've definitely given me a lot more peppers that aren't green.

But in New Jersey, it's highly unlikely to cross into December with such a crop in the first place, let alone how ripe they are. Then again, this year I got only two days from the start of December, so perhaps 2025 will be the year I can actually say was able to keep growing peppers once the calendar turns past November.

Look, I absolutely love the fact that every year the season is stretching a little bit longer. But at the same time, this isn't normal, nor is it a one-off. Every year adds a few more days on average. It's not that it's not getting cold, it's just not getting cold enough at night.

Dead. That's what these plants should look like on the first day of December. Will this still be the case in 2025? I guess we'll find out in a year.

The above post reflects the thoughts and observations of New Jersey 101.5 Sunday morning host & content contributor Mike Brant. Any opinions expressed are his own.