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Summer feels like the busy season in the garden. Tomatoes, squash, and other summer-loving plants are in overdrive, and sometimes, harvesting all those crops can be a struggle. But, if you want to extend your garden time and increase your harvest, mid to late summer is the time to start your fall planting. After harvesting some of summer’s early-maturing vegetables, such as radishes, peas, lettuce, chard, and spinach, those empty spots make the perfect place to fill in with cool season and frost-hardy crops. Read on for our eight favorite tips to have you planting for a fall harvest like a pro.
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Why Fall Planting Works
It may seem counterintuitive to plant cold-weather crops during the hottest time of year since many cold-weather crops tend to bolt under high heat. But, for many crops, it can actually be less stressful because there are fewer weeds and pests, plus many parts of the country experience rainer days, which help to bring down temps and provide much-needed water. For us here in Colorado, this is considered our monsoon season. I watch the weather continuously, and when I see several days of rain forecasted, I run out with my seeds to take advantage of that extra water for sprouting.
Additionally, late summer planting for fall brings the benefit of a more bountiful harvest, which is essential if you, like me, want to feed your family for the whole year from the garden.
8 Tips For Planting For a Fall Harvest
Before embarking on your fall planting journey, it’s crucial to lay out a comprehensive plan for your fall garden.
If you miscalculate frost dates with frost-tender varieties, your crops may not be ready to harvest before the season's first cold snap.
1. Preparation is Key
The dog days of summer mean hot days, hot nights, and warm soil. It is not always an ideal environment for cold-weather crops. If temperatures have been soaring in your region, cool down the soil by shading it for a few days before planting.
2. When to plant a fall garden
When it comes to fall planting, timing is everything. It’s essential to know your frost date. Once you know your USDA Plant Hardiness Zone average first frost date, you can use that information to count backward for each crop to determine the correct planting date.
Some vegetables, like carrots, beets, radishes, and lettuce, will tolerate frost and keep growing even when daytime temps dip to the forties. Others can’t tolerate even a light frost (between 30° and 32°) will perish the minute the weather turns cool.
3. Get the Garden Ready
Remove underperforming, stunted, or already harvested crops to prepare your garden beds for new plants. Next, pull any weeds so they don‘t compete with your new seedlings for moisture or nutrients. Once the bed or planting space is clean, add a layer of compost to replace any nutrients the previous crops may have depleted.
4. Start From Seed
Most nurseries won’t carry starts late in the season, so you’ll likely have to start your fall crops from seed. Plants prone to bolting in the heat should be started indoors and transplanted out as the evenings begin to cool off. Whether you direct sow or indoor start, consistent moisture is required for seeds to germinate. If they dry out, sprouts won't rehydrate and keep growing, so keeping them well watered until germination is essential. My best tip is to watch the weather and get your seeds in the ground on a cooler or overcast day when rain is expected to give your seeds a well-watered and cool start.
5. Where to plant fall crops
The best place to plant fall crops is in the space vacated by already harvested plants. Onion beds, garlic beds, potato beds, and the space in which your early salad greens grew are great places to start.
6. Be prepared to offer shade
If the weather is too hot, some cool-weather crops won’t germinate. Cold-weather crops do best when protected from direct sun. This could mean planting lettuce underneath mature plants that can shade them, or you may need to bring in shade cloth to keep them cool.
7. Mulch
Once your plants have reached a few inches tall, adding a thick layer of mulch will help keep the soil and roots cooler. Furthermore, mulch acts like a sponge absorbing water and slowly releasing it as the soil dries. As a bonus, the mulch will help protect and insulate plants as the weather takes a decidedly cold turn.
8. Grow the right varieties
When selecting crops for fall planting, the most important things to look for are days to maturity and frost hardiness ratings. Crops that do well include leafy greens like lettuce, spinach, and chard. Root crops such as radishes, turnips, beets, and onions. Brassicas like cabbage, broccoli, and Brussels sprouts.
However, if you want to simplify the process and ensure you're getting the right varieties, I recommend the Winter Vegetables and Greens bundle from Organo Republic. This bundle contains 25 late-season crops, all non-GMO, open-pollinated, and sustainably sourced from US farms. We’re excited to partner with them to offer you 15% off sitewide, not just the Winter bundle! Use the code below for your discount.
Extend Your Season Even Farther
If you select cold-hardy crops, you can extend your season even further by having insulating fabric, row covers, or even tarps at the ready. These materials can protect your plants from early frosts, allowing you to continue harvesting well into the fall. Additional tips for protecting your garden can be found at the link below.
State and Region Fall Planting Calendars and Guides
To help you with your Fall planting research, here is a list of calendars for fall vegetable sowings–or, in the warmest zones, a fall-sown, winter-harvested garden. Many of these links will pop up as PDFs, not web pages.
New York (Ithaca/Tompkins County)
New York, Long Island, and final sowing dates Nassau County
Virginia and adjacent states (from Southern Exposure Seed Exchange)
Wishing You a Successful Fall Planting Season
We hope that you are as excited about fall planting as we are. With each passing day and each crop harvested, we have been filling our beds up again and again, trying to make the most of our short Colorado (Zone 5B) growing season. Have you started your fall planting? What are your favorite crops to grow? Tell us all about it in the comments below, and as always, until next time,
