Just as the garden comes alive and the lush green produce is about to spill onto your counters, it is time to start your fall crops. By planting a second crop, you'll be able to harvest right up until the cold arrives. In this post I am sharing all my best tips to help you plan a fall garden to keep you elbow deep in produce for as long as possible.
Starting your own backyard garden is rewarding to say the least. Not only does backyard vegetable gardening supply you with fresh nutritious homegrown produce, it has proven to lower stress and make people generally happier. If you are new to vegetable gardening here are a few resources to get you started:
When should I start my fall garden crops?
This answer varies depending on your location, hardiness zone, and your first frost date which you can find with a simple google search.Once you know your first frost date, for our tiny farm can be as early as the fall equinox, you are able to browse through your seed packets to see what you still have time to direct sow before the frost arrives. Simply count the days until the first frost and find vegetables that grow to maturity in that time or less.
Even if the second crop you want to grow doesn't have enough time to fully mature, with the right planning you could start them in trays a few weeks prior to transplanting out into the garden when you pull out your summer crops like onions, garlic, kale, swiss chard etc.
What types of vegetables should I grow in my fall garden?
A fall garden is a great opportunity to replant some of the crops that didn't grow well in your garden, or didn't germinate well. It's a second chance for your garden so pull out what didn't work and try again! Some plants actually prefer to be grown in a fall garden because they are able to germinate in the warm long sunny days and mature when the days are cooler and shorter which can make some varieties sweeter.
Of course you are going to want to grow what you already know you'll eat and love. But here is a list of a few shorter season, cool weather crops that are typically grown in a fall garden:
Of course you are going to want to grow what you already know you'll eat and love. But here is a list of a few shorter season, cool weather crops that are typically grown in a fall garden:
Arugula
Beets
Chives
Cilantro
Kale
Mustard
Peas
Radishes
Scallions
Sweet Peas
Swiss Chard
Turnips
I also like to take the opportunity to amend our raised garden boxes with rabbit manure or compost when planting any fall crops to ensure the soil isn't completely depleted of energy and add to my garden planner any information about when and what I planted!
If you would like a little guidance on growing a vegetable garden, I really do recommend getting my Garden Planner here. This will help you determine what your garden goals, will help you layout your garden, keep track of when you should sow, transplant, harden off all your seedings and has a journal you can look back to over the years to help you keep track of certain dates like frosts, or heavy rainfall.
I hope this post was helpful and inspires you to keep growing throughout the season!
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