Last chance: 6 things to do before cold weather arrives

Kansas weather tends to make planning for seasonal changes pretty tricky.

Take the summer/fall transition, for example, September starts hot and stays that way. Unless it doesn’t. Late September and early October are famous for sneaky chilly mornings that send people digging into the back of the closet for jackets and scarves.

And just like that, Mother Nature will have cheated Kansans out of their last warm-weather patio meals, their last bearable trips to the drive-in and their last chance to shop for fresh tomatoes and peppers in shorts.

Mother Nature appears ready to mess with the masses even more this year.

AccuWeather meteorologists predicted in August that the cool, damp summer Wichita had this year could turn into a cool, damp autumn. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Climate Prediction Center is forecasting a slightly cooler and slightly wetter-than-average September through November for the region.

The following is a list of activities to take advantage of before the cold air settles in for good.

1. Dine on a restaurant patio: Wichita’s al fresco dining scene grows every year, and the city boasts some dreamy outdoor dining patios, particularly the terraced, lakefront patio at Newport Grill; a covered, fireplace equipped patio at Chester’s Chophouse; Larkspur’s patio with a front seat to Old Town action; and a large, newly re-landscaped space at YaYa’s Eurobistro.

Most restaurant managers say they welcome diners to enjoy outdoor seating as long as the weather cooperates. And in Wichita, they say, it tends to stop cooperating in early to mid-October. Now’s the time for steak under the stars.

2. Fire up the grill: If your idea of outdoor grilling involves oven mittens rather than winter mittens, it’s time to put the final burger-fest of the season on the calendar. And while you’re at it, take the time to roast some of those remaining garden peppers, zucchini and squash directly on the grill grates. To do so, slice the vegetables, coat them with olive oil, then sprinkle them with salt and pepper. Grill them on a medium-high grill grate until they’re tender and have grill marks.

3. Get out to the drive-in: There’s something special about loading the whole family in the car to take in a movie (or three) at Wichita’s historic Starlite Drive-In, at 3900 S. Hydraulic. The drive-in actually will be open for quite a while longer. Last year, it held out through the first weekend of December, and owner Jim Quick says he hopes to keep the drive-in open at least long enough to show the new “Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1” in late November.

The drive-in has already transitioned into its fall/winter hours and prices, through. Since Labor Day, it’s been open just Friday and Saturday nights, and the admission fee is now $12 a carload.

4. Stock up at the farmers markets: Time is running out for both of Wichita’s main farmers markets. The Old Town Farmers’ Market at First Street and Mosley will have its final day on Oct. 11, and the Kansas Grown Farmers Market at the Sedgwick County Extension Center at 21st and Ridge will finish its 2014 run on Oct. 25.

The later the season gets, though, the more layers shoppers will likely need to wear. And the offerings will transition, too. Late September and early October will see fewer tomatoes, more pumpkins. Other end-of-season offerings shoppers likely will find: beans, cabbage, eggplant, carrots, peppers, sweet potatoes, beets, winter squash and turnips.

5. Amuse the kids outdoors: Wichita’s two main amusement parks, All Star Adventures at 1010 N. Webb Road and All Star Sports at 8333 W. 21st St. N., are winding down the seasons for their outdoor attractions.

All Star Adventures, which has the larger of the two outdoor areas, will close down its outdoor amusement rides and bumper boats on the last weekend of October. All Star Sports will keep its bumper boats and go carts going only until the weather consistently falls below 40 degrees.

6. Save the tomatoes: Summer gardeners should watch the weather forecast closely during the next few months so that they can save any straggling tomatoes. If they’re left on the vine during the first freeze of the year, said Rebecca McMahon, a horticulture agent with the Sedgwick County Extension Center, they’ll turn to mush and be wasted. The average first frost for Wichita usually arrives around Oct. 25, and the first hard freeze lands around Nov. 11.

But even if they’re green, they can be plucked pre-freeze and kept in a cool basement, she said. Green tomatoes that have a white star shape on the bottom are completely mature and should continue to ripen. “Folks that do this say they eat their last tomatoes between Thanksgiving and Christmas,” McMahon said.

This story was originally published September 14, 2014 at 7:00 AM with the headline "Last chance: 6 things to do before cold weather arrives."