Plant a fall garden

Don’t pack away your gardening gloves just yet! Increase the annual yield by filling space vacated by harvested crops such as garlic, onion, and potatoes. There’s still time to sow fast-growing vegetables and get a fall garden harvest before the frost kills them off. And if you’re garden resembles mine, the spring salad greens are exhausted and need to be replaced.

Do the end of summer and the sheer thought of fall and frost get you down? Your warm-season plants like tomatoes and squash might be in overdrive, but why stop there?

Perks of a fall garden

As the temperature drops and the days get shorter, it can actually get easier to maintain your growing plants:

• Fewer pests are around and it requires less effort to stay on top of controlling them
• Reduced watering needs
• Fewer weeds are growing
• Many root crops get sweeter in cool weather
• The soil is warm and seeds will germinate more rapidly than in spring (but you still need to keep it moist)

CONCERNS when planting in august

Of course, a fall garden is not an auto-pilot garden.

Watch out for:

• Sun-scold: shade tender seedlings as they emerge
• Early frost: check the weather forecast so that you’re not taken by surprise
• Stunted growth: plants are getting less daylight and heat and might mature slower
• Dew sits on the leaves longer: watch out for and treat powdery mildew
• Slugs are more active

What to plant in August for a quick crop

Look for varieties with a fairly quick germination time and 30-60 days to maturity. Also keep in mind that these greens and root crops can be harvested at any time before their full-size potential.

Regardless of what you decide to try: with a race against time, amend the soil with some compost or a balanced organic fertilizer to provide the nutrients they need to grow strong.

Fast-maturing frost-tender crops

Peas, broad beans, and bush beans are a bit of a gamble, yet a great cover crop even if you don’t get a meal out of it.

They’ll germinate fast in the warm soil and then go on to thrive in the cool weather. But they will not fare well in frost. Be prepared to cover them!

Freeze-tolerant crops

Carrots and spinach can actually take a freeze or two. You’ll probably not grow the biggest carrots, but sweet, tender baby carrots are hands down a delicacy!

When to plant you fall garden

Timing is essential with a fall garden: you need to know your first frost date. Here, at the slope gardens, we’re talking late September on average.

The ideal time is about 8-10 weeks before that date, depending on the variety. To determine when to sow:

1. Look up and summarize germination time + time to maturity.
2. Count back that number of days from your first frot date.
3. Optionally add a 1-2 week buffer.

When frost and a deep freeze is a certainty as it is here, it is better to plant the fall garden a little early. Alternatively, or in addition to, you can extend the season by using a low hoop tunnel or a floating row cover.

Harvest, harvest, harvest

Hopefully, you and me both will get a tasty harvest out of the fall garden. However, mother nature might throw some unexpected weather at us. This year, June was almost 2 degrees Celsius warmer than normal, and July about the same cooler than normal and in addition almost double as wet.

Worst-case, plants might be bolting, trying to set seed, or get killed by an early frost. But you’re still better off than if you had left the soil bare!

• You can work on perfecting your timing next year
• You have learned a valuable lesson about which varieties that do well in your garden and that potentially can take a light frost
• Your soil has been covered – suppressing weeds and preventing it from drying out and killing the good microorganisms
• You’ve added organic matter that can decompose, feed the worms, and build the soil during the winter.

Don’t take my word for it: plant a fall garden yourself and harvest experience and some flavorful veggies!