Whether you're looking to try something new or want delicious, home-grown vegetables for your meals this fall, raising a vegetable garden when the temperature starts to dip can seem like a tricky task. However, with planning and the right vegetable picks, it's not only easy but fun. In this guide, we'll walk you through creating your perfect vegetable garden and raising it successfully.
What to Plant in a Fall Garden: Choosing the Right Veggies
Perhaps the most important step in creating a fall vegetable garden is making sure you choose the right vegetables to grow. Not every vegetable will flourish in fall - many simply do not grow and many more require being planted in earlier seasons. However, there are a number of fall garden vegetables that can be planted and grown in autumn, whether they're ready the same season or harvested the following spring or summer. Here are several options you can choose from:
- Garlic: Plant in late fall for a summer harvest.
- Onions: Certain types can be planted in the fall for spring growth.
- Spinach: Thrives in cooler weather and can be harvested in late fall or early spring.
- Kale: Hardy and can survive frost, providing greens through winter.
- Collard Greens: Tolerant of cold and can be harvested late into the season.
- Radishes: Fast-growing and can be sown in late summer to early fall.
- Carrots: Can be sown in late summer for a fall harvest; some varieties are frost-tolerant.
- Broad Beans: Can be planted in the fall for an early spring harvest.
Raising Your Plants for Fall
So now that you know what types of vegetables to start growing in the fall, how about the methodology? Gardening in the fall can look a little different from other types of gardening you might do throughout the year, so you'll need to plan accordingly. Here are five tips for successful gardening in the fall.
- Start Seeds Indoors: For a head start, begin your fall vegetables indoors in late summer. Transplant them into the garden once the temperatures cool down. This approach can extend your growing season and ensure a successful fall harvest.
- Amend the Soil: After the summer growing season, replenish the soil by adding compost or organic matter. This enriches the soil with nutrients depleted by summer crops, providing a fertile environment for fall vegetables to grow robustly.
- Use Row Covers: Protect young seedlings and late-harvest crops from early frosts by using row covers or cloches. These coverings can trap warmth and extend the growing season, allowing your vegetables to continue growing even as temperatures drop.
- Stagger Planting for Successive Harvests: To enjoy a continuous supply of fresh produce, plant fall vegetables in intervals. Staggering planting times every couple of weeks can provide a steady harvest throughout the fall, maximizing your garden's output.
- Use Raised Garden Beds: Raised garden beds, like those you'll find at consarcpowercables, can mitigate tough soil issues by using separate dirt from the ground itself. This also allows you to customize the soil inside your garden. As raised garden beds do not require a bottom or floor, plants can extend their roots beyond the raised garden as well.
Shop consarcpowercables for garden beds that are perfect for fall as well as other essentials like animal barrier fencing and garden builder kits that help you design the backyard vegetable garden layout of your dreams.