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Gardening

Preparing for a Fall Garden

By Mavis Butterfield on August 3, 2016 · 10 Comments

Preparing for a Fall GardenSo, I know you’re just starting to see the fruits of your labors {quite literally} in your garden, but it’s time to start thinking about seeds for your fall garden.  Starting them indoors now {and direct sowing a few} means that you’ll have lots of cool weather crops to plant when the weather turns.  I guess what I am saying is that you have the opportunity to create a whole new round of gardening before you are stuck indoors, knees tucked to your chest while you suck on vitamin D tablets.  Use the time wisely.

cucumber squash zucchini startsYou can direct sow quite a bit right now, if you have space in your garden.  About 12-14 weeks before your average last frost, plant another round of fast-growers, like cucumbers, summer squash and sugar snap peas.  They will germinate in the warmer weather and provide another round of produce before the snow flies.

homegrown carrots10-12 weeks before the first frost, you can direct sow cabbage, arugula, lettuce, turnips, parsnips, beets, spinach, carrots, mustard, Asian greens, and radishes.  If the weather is still pretty hot, though, I recommend just starting the leafy greens indoors.  They don’t like to germinate very well in hot soil.

spinachAbout 6-8 weeks before first frost, you’ll have plenty of time to get another round of spinach and mache in.  If you choose a cold hardy variety, you can put them into a hoop house and have home grown spinach on your Thanksgiving table.

garlic bulbsRight before the first frost, get your garlic and shallots in the ground.  They’ll just hang out until it’s time to grow next spring.

cauliflowerIndoors, you can start all of the above {except the root veggies}, and have plants ready to go when it’s time to pull out some of the summer garden.  I like to plant lettuce, broccoli, broccoli raab, cauliflower, etc. indoors and have them ready to plant around September when the weather cools a bit.  This is also the perfect time to start a pot of herbs indoors.  You’ll have all of the advantages of natural summer light, and you’ll have an established indoor herb garden when the weather would dictate otherwise.

What do you think?  Are you too worn out to do another round, or will you be planting a fall garden this year?

~Mavis

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Comments

  1. Heather says

    August 3, 2016 at 7:23 am

    I am still waiting patiently for tomatoes, zucchini and yellow squash. My success is 4 cucumbers (that I thought were going to be a squash plant) and basil. Fortunately, my friends are sharing their bounty (and giggling a little at my first attempt).

    Reply
  2. Susan says

    August 3, 2016 at 11:53 am

    Heather, tell your friends “despise not small beginnings,” Zechariah 4:10. Everybody has to start somewhere lol

    Reply
  3. Leah says

    August 3, 2016 at 12:28 pm

    I was able to pick 3 good size zucchini from my plants so far this year, but the plants have had an aphid problem. Apparently my efforts weren’t enough to keep ahead of the aphids even though I sprayed with soapy water regularly. The aphids have also attracted ants to the raised bed! There are a couple of small zucchini growing now, but they haven’t gotten any bigger in days, which was not like the first that I picked, and the leaves are looking pretty sad. There are no new flowers. I’m ready to rip the plants out and start them over before it gets too late in the season. Will probably do more carrots and some garlic. Another round of chamomile would be nice also.

    Reply
  4. Caitie says

    August 3, 2016 at 3:43 pm

    Thank you for all the great information! When you say the cabbage and greens don’t like it very hot, what do you call very hot? I live in southern Tennessee and very hot around here is the nineties, but you’ve mention melting when it’s in the eighty’s. Just curious what cabbage and greens think is too hot as I’m planning to direct sow a fall garden this year.

    Reply
    • Mavis Butterfield says

      August 5, 2016 at 10:15 am

      Above 75-80 degrees. Ideally I’d say cabbage enjoys temps around the mid 60’s.

      Reply
      • Caitie says

        August 5, 2016 at 10:36 am

        Ok, thanks!

        Reply
  5. Randi says

    August 4, 2016 at 12:03 pm

    I just planed snap peas last night.
    Harvested my very first cuke, it will be on the dinner table tonight.
    Once the green beans are done in a few weeks, i’ll plant greens in their place.
    My garden gets very shady in the winter so not much will grow

    Reply
    • Mavis Butterfield says

      August 5, 2016 at 10:15 am

      Lucky you, I am still waiting for cucumbers!

      Reply
  6. Phyllis says

    August 4, 2016 at 4:52 pm

    In the middle of the summer, it’s hard to get excited about a winter garden…but oh so worth it! Nothing makes you feel more accomplished as a gardener than harvesting fresh veggies for Thanksgiving, Christmas, and even Valentines Day. And in the dead of winter it really does cheer you up. If you plant nothing else, plant carrots…do it now, and mache when the day time temps are around 50. Just give it a try, you won’t regret it.

    Reply
  7. Joanna says

    August 7, 2016 at 11:58 am

    My pickling cucumbers are almost done, plants are dying… I think the heatwave that we had recently in NYC sped up the process ;( I have a second round growing, I planted about a month ago, they are getting big but not flowering yet, I hope they will be ok because last year I planted the second round about the same time as this year and as soon as they started to flower, the powdery mildew ate them really quick, within less than 2 weeks they were dead and I only got maybe about 5 small cucumbers from that planting ;( … my lemon cucumbers just started producing like crazy though 😉 … I have a tiny garden (compared to yours but as for NYC it’s huge 😉 therefore I will be planting for fall and winter to get most of the square footage that I have 😉 … I will soon do beans, than a little later radishes, spinach, lettuce, sorrel, beets, carrots, turnips, garlic … I’ll give a second chance to cabbage, broccoli, brussel sprouts and cauliflower, last year I planted them all for the fall but cabbage worms and aphids ate/destroyed all of them ;( … and I’m planting huge pot of herbs so hopefully if everything else fails like last year, I’ll at least have that to bring home for fall/winter time 😉

    Reply

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