Many vegetable gardeners live for the summer growing season and put their gardens to rest come fall. However, fall is a wonderful time for gardening. Many food crops grow best in the cooler weather, allowing you to extend your harvest.
Here are some crops to try this fall:
1. Broccoli —
According to Margaret Roach of A Way to Garden, broccoli plants should be started indoors about 15 weeks before the first frost of fall if growing from seed. If you prefer nursery plants, transplant them to the garden when they have two sets of true leaves for late fall harvest.
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2. Kale — This nutritious leafy green is easy to grow, cold hardy, and tastes even better after a few light frosts.
Mother Earth News recommends starting seeds indoors about 12 to 14 weeks before your first frost and plant the seedlings out when they are around three or four weeks old. Transplant them on a cloudy day to avoid transplanting stress.
3. Lettuce — Fresh, homegrown lettuce salads are plentiful from the cool season garden. Lettuce is easy to grow, doesn’t take up a large amount of space, and doesn’t require a full day of
sun exposure to grow, says Mother Nature Network. Lettuce can be grown directly from seeds in late summer. Protect your plants from hard frosts and you could be harvesting fresh lettuce well into the winter months.
4. Cabbage — Margaret Roach recommends planting cabbage seeds indoors at the same time you would start broccoli, about 15 weeks prior to the first frost in your area. Cabbage plants take about two months to fully mature. Once harvested, heads stay fresh and store well for several weeks in the refrigerator.
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5. Radishes — Radishes need little space in the home garden, and they mature quickly, says Mother Nature Network. Radishes are easy to grow directly from seed beginning in mid-summer for fall harvest.
6. Carrots — Directly sow carrots in mid and late summer for fall harvest. Carrots grow well in the cool temperatures of fall, and they can be stored for months in the refrigerator once harvested, says Mother Nature Network, making them an ideal crop for almost year-round eating.
Brande Plotnick is an ambitious home cook, gardener, beekeeper, writer, and speaker who started her website, Tomato Envy, to inspire others to find their deliberately decadent life at home. Brande’s down-to-earth style and approachable manner have been winning over the readers who follow her blog. Her work has been featured in Urban Farm Magazine, Natural Awakenings, Mother Earth News, and the Whole Seed Catalog.
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