Believe
it or not it’s time to start thinking about your fall garden. I know we are in the thick of summer and it
seems like those 90 plus degree days will never end but fall will be here
before you know it. You won’t want to
miss out on getting your garden fall ready.
One
of our favorite vegetables to plant for the fall is greens. All the greens, to make big, beautiful,
healthy salads. Plus, we tend to plant
hardy greens, that cook well, so that adds versatility to your garden and what
you grow. A few of our favorite greens
to plant for the fall garden is spinach, arugula, kale and bok choy. A mix of
varieties and flavors makes cooking more fun as well as treating your palette
to a variety of flavors for the fall.
Another
favorite that could also be considered a green is cabbage. While cabbage might take little longer to
grow, 60-90 days until mature, it will withstand colder temperatures if your
area gets an early cold snap. There are
choices to be made when growing cabbage as well. Are you an all green type of grower or do you
like to mix it up with purple cabbage?
Time to close up the head
Broccoli
is another great choice for a fall garden.
Broccoli really tends to thrive in cooler temperatures, such as 65-75
degrees but will get started while it’s still a little warmer. Maybe start
those seeds inside where the climate is a bit cooler than outside and transfer
when you have a strong seedling started.
A little tip I learned is to snip off the first heads as baby broccoli
and that should yield to larger heads at the finish.
Along
with broccoli, cauliflower is another great fall vegetable to plant. Now cauliflower tends to be a little more
picky about the temperature in which it grows, so plant those a little later
when you can be assured of cool temperatures for this temperamental plant. Afterall, you do not want it to bolt before
you produce heads. Once the heads start to grow, if you pull the leaves over
top, the heads are protected from the sun and heat, and will grow to a
beautiful white color.
If
you loved your peas in the spring, bring them back for the fall. Fall peas taste just as yummy and crisp as
those spring peas. Plus, who doesn’t love to just pluck them from the vine and
enjoy while picking the rest of the vegetables.
Carrots
are another great option to plant in the fall.
Add these into the ground directly among your other plants and they will
thrive in the fall. After all carrots
love tomatoes, so sprinkle in around your already growing tomatoes and see what
comes up.
A
quick growing vegetable is the radish.
Succession plant these every two weeks to have fresh radish for your
salad or as a garnish all throughout the fall.
By planting a new set every couple of weeks ensures you have new plants
started when harvesting the first batch.
Beets
are probably best known for being grown in the fall garden. So many wonderful varieties are available for
growers that you are bound to discover one you love. They are even more versatile since you can
eat the root and the tops, so nothing goes to waste when you grow beets in your
fall garden. These colorful root
vegetables are a great addition to add in nutritious food choices to your daily
diet. Beets are hardy after picking, if kept in a cool dry space.
If
you have never eaten celery grown fresh from the garden, you are missing
out. The taste is so much better than
anything you can buy in the store. Since
celery can be used in so many different ways, you cannot go wrong with adding
this to your fall garden. While it does
take a bit longer to mature 90 to 120 days, it will really start to produce
when the temperatures drop.
While
there are a myriad of choices and varieties to plant in your garden for the
fall, do not let time slip away before you get started. If you do not have a lot of space find out
what goes well together and use the same pot for multiple plants. Everyone can access fresh, grown produce with
a little bit of effort.
No comments:
Post a Comment