Fall Vegetable Gardening
Steve Bridges

If you have been to the produce section of your local grocery store lately you will find the effects of the erratic weather conditions that farmers around the country have been experiencing. Flooding in some parts of the country and droughts in others have led to some produce costing more per pound than beef or chicken! Summer is the time when vegetable prices are supposed to be low. And if the price of a pound of tomatoes is high now, just what until winter! You can enjoy much less costly and better tasting vegetables if you start a fall garden now. If you haven't tried fall gardening you are missing a wonderful opportunity. As the season progresses, you do not have to worry so much about the heat and lack of rain, as you do when your spring garden boils into the summer months. Some of the more delectable vegetables require the cool months of fall and winter. It's not too late to get started, and your work will be well worth the effort!

Fall vegetables can be broken into two groups. Frost tolerant vegetables will survive freezes. Frost susceptible vegetables will die with the first freeze. You should consider planting the two types in separate groups. When the frost susceptible plants freeze, you can pull them up and plant a winter cover crop of some type of legume that will naturally build nitrogen into your soil (a process called green manuring). Hairy Vetch is the best cover crop, though you may consider clovers, oats, or ryes. You also need to be concerned about the maturity rates of the different vegetables. Some need to go in the ground now while others can wait.

Slow maturing crops should go in the ground now and include tomatoes and potatoes (sweet and Irish), both susceptible to frost. Frost tolerant plants include Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, and winter squash.

Moderate maturing crops should be planted in the first week in September. The ones mentioned here are all frost tolerant. Broccoli, Chinese cabbage, kohlrabi, green onions, peas, and carrots don't mind some cold weather. You might even try some Lima bush beans.

The quickly maturing crops are spinach, turnips, leaf lettuce (try Swiss chard!), radishes, and beets. All of these are frost tolerant. While you can wait until later in September to plant, you can also go ahead and plant these selections earlier in the month as well.

Our mean first frost date occurs sometime from the middle of November to the first week of December. It should be noted that you might be in a 'microclimate' where the mean dates do not mean much. Some low-lying areas can be as much as 20 degrees cooler on a still winter night than higher elevations! Be aware of your own local conditions and adjust your planting schedule accordingly.

Most likely you will not eat everything as it comes out of the garden. If you become familiar with the methods of freezing and canning your spare vegetables, you can beat the high cost of good grubbing all winter long! Chances are you have eaten these home canned vegetables at your grandmother's house for Thanksgiving and Christmas. There is no better tasting food in the world than your own home grown and canned veggies. Give it a whirl, you can do it!

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