Fall Garden

Even though it is only the middle of July, it is time for me to start thinking about my fall garden. Even though in the spring you may buy plants for your broccoli, cabbage and other such plants, in the fall you can plant these using seed sown directly into the ground. This saves me a lot of money. The first thing to do is determine your fall frost date. This is the earliest to expect frost. A great resource for this can be found in Dave's Garden guide. You just enter your zip code and it will give you the information. Here is the link. frost dates by zip code

Once you have your fall frost date, the rest is simple arithmetic. Look at your seed packet for the "days to maturity" part. Take the total number of days until maturity back from your frost date and that is the latest date you should plant those seeds. Because fall has shorter days, you should also add in a little bit more time to make sure it matures by frost. Summers around here are much drier than spring so I also need to water these seeds a little more often until they sprout.

You can also extend your growing season by simply covering your crops for the first frosts. Most cool weather crops can handle the chill. You just need to cover them in the event of a frost. i just use bed sheets for this and then wash them when the season finishes. This way you can have fresh vegetables far into the fall.