Autumn
edible essentials
It's not too late to reap the rewards of your garden
space. Swanson's has a great selection of vegetables that will
extend into fall the ability to enjoy the fruits of your labor.
We have 9 varieties of lettuce, spinach, swiss chard, broccoli,
cabbage, kale, onions, leeks, and many other cool season vegetable
offerings that will enhance your dining experience and be mighty
healthy for your family as well, since they are all organically
grown. The time is now to take advantage of your opportunity
to keep fresh homegrown vegetables on your dinner plate.
Fall
Veggies from Seed
There
are many fall veggies that can still be started by seed in late
July August and September. Arugula, spinach, corn salad/mache,
mustards, radish, carrots, beets, and turnips can all be
sowed directly into the garden for a winter crop. Using a
floating row cover or "Harvest Guard" fabric to
protect your crops should temperatures drop unseasonably
low will offer extra protection during the colder months.
Garlic
Fall
is the best time to set out garlic starts. Fall plantings of garlic winter over in the ground. The cloves get a head start in the spring as they are in the ground and growing before soil can normally be worked for planting, and the yield is greater for it. Garlic bulbs planted in the fall are larger and fuller than spring planted sets. Both the Fall and Spring planting will mature around the same time (August, generally), although the Fall planting may be ready a little ahead of the Spring crop. Click
here for garlic info.
Lettuce
Like most winter salad crops, lettuce is hardier when grown not as heads, but in closely sown rows, cut at about three inches tall with a small serrated knife or scissors. Find the hardiest varieties among the oak leaf types, and romaines such as Rouge d'Hiver and Winter Density. Sown in a cold frame, they'll regrow for a second and third helping. For baby greens, sow thickly and harvest with scissors.
Click here
for lettuce quick info.
Cilantro is
best grown from seed directly into the ground in the fall as
pots can easily be damaged with freezes.
Fertilize succulent herbs lightly each month with Dr.
Earth All Purpose Organic Fertilizer.
Cover
Crops or Green Manure
For parts of your garden not
being used in the fall, red clover, vetch and rye grain can
be used as a green manure cover crop. Seed anytime from late
August through October. Turn under in late spring. Cover cropping
conserves fertilizer, discourages weed growth, prevents erosion,
and builds the soil by the addition of organic matter.
