Gardening: Tips for Autumn Vegetable Growing

Due to their fears of early winter frosts, a lot of gardeners do not think about fall gardening. If you're one of them maybe a few tips can make you change your mind. You should, because fall gardening produces some first-rate vegetables long after spring planted plants are finished. Autumn garden vegetables are can be sweeter and milder than those grown in summer and present a different taste to the same old veggies. What are the best plants to grow during the fall, of course, depends on space available, your climate zone, and what you like to eat, just like spring planting. Even heat-loving crops, like tomatoes, sweet potatoes and peppers, will produce until frosts hit, which can be fairly late in the year in southern zones. Then there are other plants that will give up as early as the end of summer, such as cucumbers, snap-beans and summer squash. Still, they can be harvested up until the first frosts also if planted mid-summer. Hardy vegetables - potatoes, carrots and other root and tubers will keep growing until the temperature is as low as 20 degrees, but those that aren't as strong can only grow through light frosts. When planning for fall gardening, look on seed packages for the words "early season", or seeds sporting the least days to maturity. Choosing the vegetables with the shortest growing season helps ensure they can be fully grown and harvested prior to the appearance of frost. You may want to shopping for fall gardening seeds in spring or early summer when the stores are still completely stocked. Seeds stored in a cool and dry location will keep until time to plant. Speaking of time to plant, you need to know when the first hard frost will usually hit your area in order to know exactly when the best time to plant for fall gardening is. I recommend looking this up in a Farmer's Almanac. They are rarely wrong and will give you specific dates. You also need to know just how long your plants are going to take to mature. Then you will be able to match up the plants with the right growing times to your area. Prepping your soil for fall gardening starts with getting rid of any leftover spring-summer crops and debris. These leftovers may spread bacteria and disease to your new plants if left in your garden. Increase the nutrients in the soil by spreading a couple inches of compost or mulch over the garden area. If summer plants were fertilized heavily it may not need much, however, if any. Turn over the soil's top layer, moisten it, and let set for 12-24 hours. Congratulations, you're ready to start planting. Many gardeners shun fall gardening in order not to deal with frosts, but if robust, hardy vegetables are planted properly they can survive a few frosts and provide some wonderful tasting fresh food.