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The falling temperatures could soon bring frost and with it, the beginning of the end of a long produce growing season.
This season the drought posed a special challenge for commercial and home growers, especially where tomatoes are concerned.
Despite months of summer gardening, you can find Mary Caudel at the farmers market, picking out what she couldn't grow. "The tomatoes are not as beautiful as some of the ones that are here, the big beautiful tomatoes," said Caudel.
While tomatoes generally thrive in temperatures below 90 degrees, this years drought has proven to be a challenge for growers. "A tomato will take 1-3 inches of rain a week. Sturgis had 2.5 inches in the summer, Rapid City had 4 in the same period," said Mark Olson, owner of Moe's Market at the Farmers Market in Rapid City's Founders Park.
"When its too hot, the tomato's won't sit on the vine, because the flowers dry out," said Mary Roduner, consumer horticulture field specialist with the SDSU extension.
"Tomatoes came out earlier. Squash, vine crops, cucumbers, most everything grows quicker. then again, its depleted a little quicker too," said Sidney Nachtigall, a produce grower at the Farmers Market.
From tomatoes to corn to lettuce, you can still expect to find the vegetables you're looking for, but expect to pay a little bit extra.
"We just have to use more water. It makes our product a bit more expensive, or we have to take a bit more of a cut on the profit," said Nachtigall.
"It affects their bottom line. if they don't have it to sell, they won't have the money they need to support their families or their farms to get through the year," said Roduner.
But experts say, home gardeners still have a few weeks left to grow their vegetables if they take the proper precautions.
"Keep watering it, cover it up. It might be just a quick frost and then we have another few weeks of nice weather," said Roduner.
But as Caudel found out, growing in a drought season requires a bit more sacrifice, often with varied results. "Get used to your water bill being a little bit bigger," said Caudel.
Some of the crops that have been blossoming earlier than usual are green beans and cucumbers. Experts say cilantro and lettuce are especially temperature sensitive and are also more likely to harvest early in drought conditions.
