Generally, fall garden means planting in fall right? But, the answer is absolutely No. fall gardens must be planted in summer season, especially when the temperatures are really hot for little seedlings that must be kept hydrated. So, they don’t dry in the heat of sun and must be protected from different types of bugs and pests like grasshoppers and blisters beetles.
However, this process might make you feel impossible to have a healthy garden, but with proper care and simple techniques or choosing the right vegetables that suit your climate or temperature will lead you success. Many gardeners start planting their fall crops at this time of the year, unfortunately in some areas it is still hot. So, how do we start a fall garden? Lets See!
Steps To Start Your Fall Garden:
The First Step to start your fall garden is to identify the date of your average first frost date. Of course, each year is different and we can’t get the same date with weather changes. Little bit of research on weather conditions and temperature of your area is always helpful.
The Second Step is to decide what you want to plant in your area. However, short season and cool weather crops works best for fall garden. Greens such as kale, lettuce, spinach, brassicas such as cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, fast growing root vegetables like carrots, radishes, beets and cool vegetables like peas, collard greens, green onions works as ideal for this weather. Always check out days to maturity before planting just to know the right time to harvest.
Starting them now will give you harvest before an early frost, although most fall plants will survive light frost if you cover them in some way or the other.
The Third Step is to prepare your raised bed for your fall plants. Because, the best way to try something new is to introduce as few new variables as possible, so you will have successful crop throughout the season. Never use the one that has been using for all your crops. It is important to protect your little seedlings from hungry bugs.
Here are some vegetables or greens you can try growing in your fall garden.
Lettuce:
Lettuce loves cool weather, so plant them before the first frost date of your area. By sowing seeds every week, you can easily extend your harvest and avoid all of the lettuce being ready to pick at the same time. Loose leaf lettuce matures faster than head lettuce and other types.
Spinach:
Spinach is another cool weather crop that works absolutely great for your fall garden. Sow seeds directly in to the garden or start them indoors and transplant them in the garden. You can harvest spinach within 3-4 weeks after planting.
Beets, Carrots And Radishes:
Root vegetables like beets, carrots and radishes also love cool temperatures. Where beets and lettuce are the only seedlings that are recommended for transplanting, spinach and radishes should be planted directly in the ground.
If you want to grow lettuce and radishes indoors, cover them with the low tunnels or with a mesh cover that is used on cabbage to protect it from cabbage worms in spring season.