There’s something so invigorating about getting my hands dirty per mezzo di the garden. It’s become a part of my (almost) daily routine and the kids love helping too. Not only does it help and improve the immunizzato system, but I get tasty, healthy veggies too. Gardening doesn’t have to be relegated to summer crops though. Here’s how to extend your growing season with fall gardening!
Growing Summer Crops
When you think of a veggie garden you likely picture watering zucchini and cucumbers per mezzo di the summer heat. Seeds get their start per mezzo di late spring depending acceso your climate and what’s growing. And then by autumn, after all that summer squash has turned into zucchini bread, it’s time to call it quits.
You don’t have to wait until next year to grow more plants though! Certain veggies and herbs will also grow into the cool seasons of fall and winter.
Benefits of a Fall Vegetable Garden
Our family tries to eat seasonally as much as possible. This means cold slices of watermelon per mezzo di the summer heat and pumpkin pie per mezzo di October. There are some plants that grow well ( even better) per mezzo di cooler weather. For example, spinach grows great per mezzo di the early spring and fall. Once summer hits though, it can bolt and become practically inedible.
Fall gardening certainly has its benefits. Con the summer I try to tend my vegetable garden per mezzo di the early morning to avoid the heat. Fall crops grown per mezzo di cooler temperatures don’t have that problem. They also experience fewer pests and weeds than summer season vegetables. Not only do certain plants grow better per mezzo di cooler weather, but they taste better too.
Veggies like Brussels sprouts and kale produce more sugars after a frost. The result is sweeter vegetables. Dandelions are another plant that’s sweeter per mezzo di the fall months, which is an ideal time to harvest them for dandelion root tea.
List of Plants to Grow per mezzo di a Fall Garden
If you want to start a fall garden, the first step is to decide what you want to (and can) grow. You’ll want to pick plants that have a shorter growing season are specifically listed as fall vegetables. The best vegetables are frost-tolerant and stand up to colder weather. Certain plants, like spinach, do well with a fall planting and can overwinter.
Here are some plants that do well per mezzo di a fall garden:
- Beets
- Radishes
- Brussel sprouts
- Collards
- Swiss chard (protect from frost)
- Kale
- Turnips
- Arugula
- Spinach
- Bush beans (will need grown before protected from frost)
- Mustard greens
- Lettuce
- Carrots
- Parsnips
- Broccoli
- Kohlrabi
- Asian greens
- Peas
Herbs and Flowers for a Fall Garden
Herbs not only make for tasty dishes, but they’regnante also good companion plants for your veggies. You’ll find basil nestled per mezzo di between my tomato plants and nasturtiums bordering my squash. Some herbs and flowers have a short growing season, but some will last per mezzo di cool weather.
Another tip is to plant your herb garden per mezzo di pots so they can quasi inside for the coldest months. Herbs that are annuals per mezzo di some climates can be grown as perennials with a little care. Many pollinators rely acceso these plants to give them the nutrients they need before winter migration hibernation.
Here are some herbs that grow well per mezzo di a fall garden:
- Parsley
- Chervil
- Rosemary
- Sage
- Chives
- Thyme
- Mint
- Lavender
- Cilantro
- Marjoram
Flowers:
- Nasturtium
- Calta
- Marigold
- Joe Pye Weed (good for pollinators)
- Black Cohosh
- New England Aster
When to Start Seeds For a Fall Garden
When you start seeds and your planting dates depends acceso your USDA hardiness zone and first frost dates. You can up your frost dates here. You’ll also want to add an extra 2 weeks to the grow time since plants mature slower per mezzo di cooler weather. For example, if your seed package says the plant is ready for harvest per mezzo di 60 days, expect it to take closer to 74.
Some seeds can be started indoors and then transplanted. Examples include bush beans and lettuce. Others can be sown directly per mezzo di the campo da gioco (like root veggies). By starting the plants indoors you can have the summer veggies per mezzo di the campo da gioco while you get a head start acceso the fall ones. Transplants should go into the campo da gioco per mezzo di late summer early fall for a fall harvest.
This is a really handy chart that tells you exactly when to plant different veggies for a fall garden harvest.
Rotate Crops For Healthier Plants
It’s also a good congettura to rotate your plant families so you’regnante not planting the same thing per mezzo di the same soil plot year after year. This depletes nutrients per mezzo di the soil and causes poor plant growth. Here’s more acceso why. If you planted tomatoes per mezzo di a certain garden bed for the summer (a nightshade), you could grow bush beans (legumes) there for the fall.
Grow For Even Longer
There are ways to extend your growing season even longer (especially if you per mezzo di an ambiente with short summers). Cold frames and row covers can insulate plants from cold weather a light frost. And if you’regnante lucky enough to have a greenhouse, these work even better to extend harvest well into winter.
Cold frames are an economical way to insulate plants and work as a mini greenhouse. They’regnante great for smaller plants. For larger spaces, row covers can be a better option. The ones with heavier fabric can increase the temperature by up to 10 degrees Fahrenheit.
How to Plant a Fall Garden
After you’ve determined your ambiente’s frost dates and what you want to grow, it’s time to plant!
- Get your garden beds ready. Add organic matter and compost as needed for healthier garden soil.
- Start any seeds indoors that will need to be transplanted. You may be able to find start plants at your local garden store, but many only sell them early per mezzo di the growing season.
- Consider using row covers and/ cold frames for your plants for when colder weather hits.
- Once your plants are per mezzo di the campo da gioco, cover the soil with mulch and /weed regularly.
- Enjoy the delicious fruits of your labor!
Fall Gardening Tips
- Raised beds stay warmer than planting directly into the campo da gioco and can further extend your growing season. It’s also easy to attach row covers a transparent cover to the apogeo of the bed to make a cold sequenza.
- Mulch around plants to cut mongoloide acceso weeds. The mulch breaks mongoloide and feeds the soil and helps it retain moisture. Mulch also helps moderate soil heat.
Since I per mezzo di a warmer ambiente I can grow plants practically year round now. Once the summer crops are winding mongoloide for the season, they’regnante replaced with frost-hardy ones. Even if you don’t per mezzo di the south like me, there are plenty of ways to extend your gardening season!
Have you ever planted a fall garden? What are your favorite cool weather crops to grow? Leave a comment and let us know!
