Fall Vegetable Planting For Fresh Cool Weather Crops
Planting vegetables in early fall is an idea that makes a lot of sense, but late July and early September are good times to plant cool weather crops. Fall plants such as broccoli and cauliflower usually taste better when grown in the chillier weather, while others such as kale and Swiss chard only reach their peak flavor after the first frost.
Autumn planting needs less work because the earth was worked up in the spring, so a light cultivation is usually all that is needed after removing all the earlier crop waste. Place the debris into your compost pile after being sure to remove any unhealthy vegetation, Top dress the garden with some compost or organic mulch and work it into your soil. Then you can proceed to plant according to recommended methods.
Examples of suitable fall plants are: broccoli, Brussels sprouts, Chinese cabbage, endive, kale, lettuce, parsnips, peas, potatoes, radishes, mustard and spinach. Do not sow the same crops back in the exact same location but rotate your crops location to reduce potential disease problems.
It is a good idea to sound out your local garden center or your local county extension service for recommendation on correct planting times for your growing zone.
As fall closes in and summer ends, protection for these crops has to be considered. One method is to cover the crops with sheets, plastic sheeting, or mulch which will trap the radiated heat from the ground and raise the temperature enough to protect them from a light frost.
Some crops such as cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, kohlrabi, potatoes, Swiss chard, Chinese cabbage and kale are not affected by frost or even moderate freezes and can be left in the garden until the hard freezes set in. Root crops such as beets, carrots, parsnips and turnips can be re-mulched, left in the garden and dug up as needed.
When cold freezing weather is predicted, pick the green mature tomatoes or pull the entire plants.Store them in a dry cool (65 degree) place where they will ripen in about two weeks. Fragile plants such as squash, peppers and eggplant should be harvested and stored in a comparable location as the tomatoes.
After gathering your crops and before the weather turns, many chores can be taken care of in anticipation of spring and next year's garden. Cleaning up garden refuse, adding soil amendments to your plot and making a planting diagram of your garden to decide how you want to rotate your crops while this year's garden is still fresh in your mind, are just three jobs to get out of the way.
Now you can kick back in your easy chair, read the seed catalogs and dream of those prize winning vegetables you are going to raise.
