Gardening season isn’t over just because summer ends – there are plenty of vegetables well-adapted for planting in the late summer for fall harvest.
Planting a fall garden extends the gardening season and allows you to continue harvesting fresh vegetables long after the summer crops are gone. In fact, many cool season vegetables, including carrots, broccoli, beets, onions, brussel sprouts, spinach, lettuce and cauliflower, produce their best flavor and quality when they mature during cool weather.
Growing a productive fall vegetable garden is easy with advance planning. For instance, you’ll want to plant vegetables that take 60 or longer to mature, such as broccoli and cauliflower, in August, to allow time for harvest before a hard freeze arrives. Faster maturing vegetables, such as leafy greens, can be planted in September for harvest in October. It’s handy to stagger your plantings of leafy greens, such as lettuce, so that the crop doesn’t arrive all at once.
Just like the summer garden, most cool weather vegetables need six or more hours of sunlight daily. Remember, the sun is weaker and the days are shorter in fall, so only plant where light is adequate.
Remember that the key to successful vegetable gardening is planning and preparation. Your garden can provide you with food and fun for the whole family if you put a bit of planning into your choice of fall garden vegetables.
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Posted by: June | September 25, 2009 at 05:29 PM