Planning for a Fall Harvest

Your garden is planted, and you can enjoy harvesting fresh produce throughout the summer. But for some of us, that just isn't enough time! If you'd like to keep your garden fruitful into the fall, sometimes as late as November in some cases, all it takes is a little planning now.

For a fall harvest, we're obviously talking about cooler season crops, but warm weather standby's like tomatoes are also a good thing to plant for a fall harvest. Here's a good schedule to follow.

July

Start seeds for transplants of broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, peppers, or tomatoes. Direct sow peas and carrots in the garden.

August

Plant the transplants you started in July into the garden. (Don't forget to harden them off first. August weather can stress a plant unless it's hardened off for a bit.) Direct sow beans, beets, spinach, turnips, and radishes.

September

If you're in southern Michigan, you can still sow greens, lettuce, and more radishes.

This will keep you in fresh veggies until our first hard frost, and possibly later. Crops like broccoli just taste better after a good frost, and you could keep harvesting broccoli, Brussels sprouts, and cauliflower as late as December.

If you'd like to extend your season for lettuce, just sow the seeds directly in your cold frame. As the weather gets colder, just keep the lid open less. On the coldest days, don't open it at all. With enough care, you could be harvesting lettuce for salads all winter. And by the time those winter doldrums start to hit, after the holidays but long before spring, seed catalogs will start arriving, and you can plan next year's veggie garden. ITGO