New Life for the Vegetable Garden

August 31st, 2021

   Labor Day shouldn’t mark the beginning of the end for the vegetable garden.

Many of the same cool-season crops that grow here in spring can be replanted for fall.

   As spring-planted summer crops are harvested or wind down, new crops can take their place to keep the veggie plot chugging along well into fall.

   With a little protection, some of them can even keep producing into early winter.

   The cooling weather of fall is perfectly suited for many of the same crops that we plant in late winter to early spring for late-spring to early-summer harvest, i.e. lettuce, carrots, red beets, broccoli, and cabbage.

   Rather than let the vegetable garden run its course until post-frost cleanup time, savvy gardeners replant this time of year.

   The warming climate makes fall harvests a better bet than ever.

   The third week of October used to be the drop-dead time frame when you could figure a killing frost would put an end to the tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, and other summer fare.

   Tradition held that that was when you “put the garden to bed” by yanking everything and giving the whole plot a good tilling (which, by the way, is now regarded as a bad idea because it harms soil structure, wastes soil-borne nitrogen, disrupts soil microbes, and stirs up weed seeds.)

Read more on why fall tilling isn’t a good idea

   In some recent years, we’ve gone well into November before facing the first serious freeze.

   Other years, we’ll get a brief brush with below-freezing nights in late October, then go back to warmth for another couple of weeks.

   Why cede that time when we could seed it?

   Why not reload the garden in late summer so that it’s still fully planted until real cold is here to stay?

   Many gardeners do that all season long – “succession-planting” a new crop whenever an earlier crop comes out.

   And a few intrepid gardeners never call it quits at all. They grow freeze-hardy greens, such as lettuce, arugula, kale, and spinach, and cold-tough root crops, such as carrots and turnips, even into winter under plastic- or glass-covered cold frames.

Cold frames and row-cover tunnels can keep some crops growing into winter.

   Even if you don’t plan on gardening with Santa, you’ll milk a few additional harvests by planting some fall crops now.

   For one thing, the space is already dug up, so why not use it?

   For another, temperatures normally fall from here on out, making fall a more pleasant time to be out in the garden than July and early August.

   Rainfall normally picks up, too, meaning you’ll have to do less watering.

   Weeds also have peaked for the year, translating into less weeding work.

   And other than cabbageworms (the little green caterpillars that can infest broccoli and cabbage), bugs also are generally less of an issue in fall.

   A down side of fall veggie gardening is that fall gardens usually aren’t quite as verdant and productive as in spring.

   The main reason is that although the temperatures and rainfall are fairly similar, the light isn’t.

   Most plants are happier when they’re maturing as the day length is increasing instead of decreasing.

   For that reason, crops take a little longer to mature in fall than in spring or summer. Plan for that extra time when you calculate ideal planting times for each crop.

   To calculate when to plant what, start with the seed-to-harvest times listed on seed packets or plant tags. Then count backward from when you’re calling it quits – end of October if you’re going by past averages or mid to late November if you’re optimistic and/or plan to use row covers or cold frames.

   Add a week or two to account for the slower maturing times.

I’ve never been able to grow a decent harvest of peas in the fall.

   A few plants just seem not to have the same enthusiasm for maturing in the fall – even though they’re OK with colder temperatures.

   Peas come to mind. Although some people say they get a good crop of fall peas, my fall ones have always fizzled.

   Onions, leeks, and potatoes are three other spring crops that don’t do well (or as well) in fall because of their long growing times.

   Some of the best bets now are transplants of cole crops, such as cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, and especially Brussels sprouts, which are very hardy and, some say, taste better when touched by a freeze.

   Most garden centers carry at least a few fall edible plants, although not nearly in the quantity and variety of spring.

   As for seeds, now and in the next few weeks are ideal for replanting bare spaces with greens, such as kale, spinach, lettuce, mustard, collards, mesclun, arugula, and parsley, and root crops, such as carrots, parsnips, turnips, radishes, and beets.

   Garlic bulbs planted around Columbus Day will overwinter and mature next July. That’s prime time to plant them.

   Remember that the Pilgrims and native Americans were harvesting fresh produce in Massachusetts for that first Thanksgiving. Why not us?