Last week on the podcast we talked about your summer succession plantings, things you can plant in the summer and harvest in the summer on repeat. This week, it’s all about fall, baby. I know it may seem like the summer growing season just started, especially if you have very few frost-free days, but this really is the time to be planning for a fall harvest. In order to get a viable crop before your first frost date or first hard freeze or before your Persephone Period hits, the steps to get there start now.
Today on Just Grow Something we are talking all things fall garden planning – what to plant, when to start your seeds, whether to grow from seeds or seedlings, timing the planting, and getting to harvest. By the end you will have a firm grasp on whether you want to tackle a fall garden and why I insist it’s one of the absolute best times of year to garden in most areas. Let’s dig in!
References and Resources:
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Frost Dates: First and last frost dates by zipcode - Garden.org
2024 Frost Dates: First and Last Frost Dates by ZIP Code | The Old Farmer's Almanac | Almanac.com
Just Grow Something Fall Garden Planning Challenge
Just Grow Something Gardening Friends Facebook Group
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Karin Velez [00:00:01]:
Last week on the podcast, we talked about your summer succession plantings, things that you can plant in the summer and harvest in the summer on repeat. This week, it's all about fall, baby. I know it may seem like the summer growing season just started, especially if you have very few frost free days. But this really is the time to be planning for a fall harvest. In order to get a viable crop before your first frost date or your first hard freeze or your Persephone period begins, the steps to get there start now. Today on Just Grow Something, we are talking all things fall garden planning, what to plant, when to start your seeds, whether to grow from seeds or seedlings, timing the planting, and getting to harvest. By the end, you will have a firm grasp on whether or not you wanna tackle a fall garden and why I insist it's one of the absolute best times of year to garden in most areas. Let's dig in.
Karin Velez [00:02:08]:
So fall seed starting is moving fast and furious here right now, getting all of the brassicas started and ready for planting. Hopefully, to get a good 4 weeks of growth on them before they go out into the ground. The biggest mistake that I made when I first attempted growing crops to harvest in the fall was I waited too long to get them into the ground. It made sense in my brain that if I'm planting cool weather loving crops, I should wait until the weather began to cool before putting them into the ground. The problem with this is, in my area anyway, that did not allow enough time for them to get to maturity before we had our first frost And for the crops that don't mind a frost, enough time for them to be able to get fully grown before our daylight hours dropped and their growth just basically slowed to a crawl. So I was planting probably in early September just as things maybe started to cool off, and that was way, way too late. It has taken a lot of years to get the timing right. And it does change slightly every year based on what conditions I'm seeing in the garden, specifically the heat and the rain conditions.
Karin Velez [00:03:23]:
I generally need to plant at the very end of July or beginning of August. But a week one way or the other seems to be okay if the temperatures are just too darn hot or the soil is too dry for those seedlings to transplant well. So I give myself just a little bit of leeway. I think these conditions make it even more important for us to have a garden plan and a journal to keep track of how this goes every season. By planning out what we're going to plant and an approximate date when that is supposed to happen, then we know when we're supposed to start our seeds for our seedlings. And then by tracking what happens when we plant and when the harvest subsequently comes or doesn't happen, then we know whether or not we should be adjusting that schedule the next season to get a better yield. Oh, wait. Speaking of garden planners and journals.
Karin Velez [00:04:18]:
Okay. I've talked before about what I include in mine, and I have kind of struggled the past couple of years because I wanted to design something for other people to be able to use, like, for you guys to be able to get out of my shop that would match what I do in my own binder. I'm just not a designer, though, at least not in that aspect. And so what I put together for myself, I was having a hard time sort of translating into something that was sort of standardized. Well, Laura, over at the Girlie Homesteader, messaged me, and she asked me if I would like a copy of the planner that she designed because she thought it sounded very similar to what I have put together for myself, and she asked if I would give her some feedback. So I agreed, and I've been playing around with her version for the past few weeks, and I've been really pleasantly surprised. She really does include all of the things that I put into my binder. So the garden layout and the seed inventory and the planting and the harvest dates and records of the harvest, breakdowns according to, like, the month and the season.
Karin Velez [00:05:28]:
And she also included some stuff that I never would have, so things like reflections on the season and the and the year. Plus, if you happen to have, like, a flock of backyard chicken, she has a place for livestock and other homesteading tasks. The cool thing, though, is it's completely customizable, which was something that I sort of struggled with putting together for other people to use because I know what I use. But I know not everybody will use all of the same features. And then there might be some features that, you know, they would want to include that I don't include. And if it's something that like, a journal or something that I buy or a planner, I hate to see blank, unused sections in planners or journals, but the one that Laura put together is discbound. So you can put it together in whatever order you want, and you can leave out whatever sections you likely won't use. So, like, if you don't have backyard chickens, you just leave out the section that talks about the livestock chores.
Karin Velez [00:06:25]:
It is so smart. Plus, the design is really, really cute. I mean, the girly homesteader, it goes right along with her brand. It's very it's very detailed. It's very cute. It's very pretty. So I gave Laura my feedback, and she offered me a discount code to pass on to you if you wanted to order 1 for yourself. It's an undated planner, So you can totally use this to plan your fall garden now and then use it over the winter to plan next season's garden too.
Karin Velez [00:06:56]:
So you can go to the girlyhomesteader.com, and you can just click the link at the top for the homestead and garden planner. And then you can use code just grow, all one word, for 10% off your planner if this is something that you think you will use, which I absolutely think you will use. I am using mine. It's sitting right here on my desk, and, I'm staring at it right now. I'm actually using it for my, for my fall plan. Okay. So first, let's talk about some of the reasons why a fall garden is a good idea. I mean, why after slogging through the hot summer months would we want to mess with more planting and tending in the garden? I mean, okay, if you're a cool climate gardener, this might not apply to you, but you get the idea.
Karin Velez [00:07:42]:
After messing with the bugs and the weeds and whatever during the main growing season, what benefits make the fall garden so compelling? It definitely has some advantages over the summer garden. Planting a fall garden extends the growing season. We can maximize the productivity of our garden and make the most of our growing space. Even just a late succession of one of our summer crops can boost the haul from our garden. Fall weather tends to be cooler which is of course advantageous for certain crops but it's also advantageous for us. Many of the vegetables like leafy greens, root vegetables, and brassicas thrive in cooler temperatures and they often taste sweeter when grown in the fall. In fact, a touch of frost is even better for things like brussels sprouts, spinach, and carrots which really get a flavor boost. The problems found in spring crops like bolting due to extreme heat is less likely to occur in the fall because these crops are coming to maturity as the weather cools not as it heats up.
Karin Velez [00:08:46]:
So this is a great time to try some of those failed spring crops again. Fall gardens are often less susceptible to pest infestations and diseases compared to spring and summer gardens. Many of the common garden pests and diseases start to decline as the weather cools down reducing the need for extensive pest management. Those life cycles begin to end which means fewer eggs and nymphs to worry about and a chance to take out any adults that have to overwinter in the garden. Weeds also tend to be less aggressive in the fall, basically for the same reason the insects are, making it easier to manage them. And with less competition from the weeds, your fall crops have a better chance of thriving, plus it's a little bit easier on our back. Cooler temperatures in the fall also result in reduced evaporation, which means lower water requirements for our plants. This can lead to savings in water usage and savings in time spent watering the garden.
Karin Velez [00:09:46]:
And finally, if you don't want to plant a fully harvestable crop, you can actually plant cover crops or incorporate some sort of organic matter into the soil during the fall, which can enhance its fertility, its structure and its overall health. The fall is the perfect time to add organic matter to the soil with very little effort from us as the gardener. So planning the fall garden requires some considerations of timing, crop selection, and certain techniques to maximize our yields. So the first thing is if you get a frost in your area, you need to determine your first frost date in the fall. So this date obviously marks when your temperatures typically drop to 30 degrees fair 32 degrees Fahrenheit and 0 Celsius because that's when it can harm those tender plants. So I will leave a link in the show notes to how you can find your first average frost date. This is gonna give you an idea of how late in the season you can plant. The second thing is to figure out what crops you want to use.
Karin Velez [00:10:54]:
Fall gardens thrive with cool season crops in most areas. Now when I talk about a fall garden here and I talk about cool season, keep in mind, you are going to have to adjust this based on your gardening area. So when we talk, you know, spring, in some areas, spring comes way earlier than it does here in Central Missouri. The same thing happens with fall. So my fall weather probably starts maybe around the end of September into October when it really starts to cool off. But, you know, if you're in Florida, then, obviously, it's gonna be a little bit later in the season. So when we say cool season and we say fall, make your adjustments accordingly, according to where it is that you're gardening. So things like leafy greens, lettuce, spinach, kale, Swiss chard, your root vegetables, carrots, beets, radishes, and turnips, all of your brassicas, broccoli, cauliflower, brussels sprouts, cabbage.
Karin Velez [00:11:49]:
And in some areas, you can also get away with another round of peas. So whether that's shelling peas or sugar snap peas, this is one that I have not mastered yet. I am going to try it again this year because I love my sugar snap peas, and I generally can only get them to produce in the spring. So I'm going to try again for a fall harvest. Bush beans are another one that are really good for the fall garden. And then depending on your area, you actually can also do potatoes as a fall crop. Now each crop has a certain number of days to maturity. It's gonna be listed on the seed packet or in your catalog wherever you're ordering from.
Karin Velez [00:12:32]:
It's that's telling you how long it takes from planting to harvest. So to figure out when it is time to do these seeds or start these seeds, you're gonna need to count backwards from your 1st frost date using those days to maturity. So if your first frost is October 15th and the crop has a days to maturity of 60 days, well, then you wanna make sure that it gets into the ground by August 15th, which also means that you need to count back for how many days it takes to germinate those seeds and how many weeks you want them to grow on before planting them outside if you are starting your own seedlings. So if that days of maturity is 60 days and your first frost date is October 15th, and we're saying approximately, okay, then you wanna have it in the ground absolutely no later than August 15th, which means if it's a crop that takes about 5 days for it to germinate, well, now we're at August 10th. And then if you want to make sure that it has about 3 weeks worth of growth on it, well, then you're moving back 3 weeks, which means you have to start those plants sometime in the middle of July. Then this is if you're starting your own seedlings. If you're purchasing from a nursery, granted, some of this is gonna be skipped. But also take into consideration the week or so that it's gonna take to acclimate those plants to your garden conditions before you're planting.
Karin Velez [00:13:58]:
It's the same thing like in the spring. We don't wanna just run out and buy some plants and then bring them home and immediately throw them out in the garden. We do need to acclimate those to our garden conditions. So take that week or so into consideration when you're figuring out these dates. Now depending on your climate and the specific crop, some seeds are gonna be started indoors. Some of them are gonna be directly sown out into your garden. So in general terms, root vegetables should always be direct sown in the soil. They just don't like to have those roots disturbed.
Karin Velez [00:14:31]:
So directly out in the ground the garden or in your raised planters is the way to do that. Some leafy greens can also be direct sown. So like your loose leaf lettuces, those are the things that you wanna go ahead and throw out there in the garden. So cabbages or brassicas, like cabbages and broccoli and cauliflower and brussels sprouts, and your head lettuces usually benefit from an indoor start just to get a head start on the growing season. It's easier to transplant them. It's easier to get the proper spacing when they are started ahead of time. But if you are in a very warm climate, you actually can start brassicas from seed right in the soil, your head lettuces too, but you will need to protect those small seedlings from critters as they pop up and be sure to thin them appropriately so they can get to full size.
Karin Velez [00:16:39]:
So what other things should we be thinking about when growing the fall garden or planning the fall garden just to get the most out of our space? Many of these are similar to what we should be doing in the spring and the summer gardens too. And the first one is to utilize succession plantings. Okay? So, again, we talked about this already. This involves planting crops in intervals to ensure a continuous harvest. So plant a new batch of lettuce every 2 weeks or 2 different varieties of carrots with different maturity dates at the same time. This technique is going to help extend your harvest period. It's just important at this point to be very aware of frost dates and waning daylight hours. Because as the daylight hours decrease, the plant growth will slow.
Karin Velez [00:17:26]:
So even though these plants may, you know, sprout very quickly and they may grow very quickly when they're first planted because the soil is going to be very, very warm. As the season progresses, that rate is going to slow. So time out your successions on an actual calendar where you've marked both your frost dates and your Persephone period so you have a visual idea of how frequently you can successively sow some of these crops. The next thing is to practice your interplanting. So whether you call it interplanting, intercropping, companion planting, however we wanna refer to it, this is growing different crops together to maximize your space, potentially reduce the pests, choke out the weeds, which aren't nearly as much of a problem in the fall anyway. So it really does double duty here. My mantra is high, low, fast, slow. Right? So plant your tall plants with your low growing ones and your quick maturing ones with your slower growing ones.
Karin Velez [00:18:23]:
So you've got radishes that mature very quickly. Plant those alongside your slower growing carrots. So by the time you're pulling the radishes out, there's plenty of room for the carrots. Pair your leafy greens under taller plants, like your trellised peas or beans or steaks tomatoes. They benefit each other in that way, and you get more out of the same space in the garden. Now, of course, we can't talk about growing into the fall without talking about extending the growing season and protecting from frost. So, yes, you should know your your normal or your usual first frost date, but that is not an exact science. In fact, it's probably only, you know, spot on about 30% of the time, so make sure that you are prepared.
Karin Velez [00:19:05]:
Just like with the spring garden, we wanna make sure that we have those frost protection measures on hand just in case. So if you see that all of a sudden there's an early frost coming, you can be prepared. So you've got those row covers. Those are the lightweight fabric covers that protect the plants from frost, but still allow the light and the moisture to come in. Make sure you have those on hand. If you can use those over some of the plants that are a little bit more sensitive to the frost, then you can get them to continue on a little bit later. We'll talk about that here in a second. Cold frames, another really good way to extend the season in the fall.
Karin Velez [00:19:43]:
You know, those little small transparent structures to put over top of the plants to trap in the heat. You've also got larger versions of this, which are caterpillar tunnels or hoop houses, those types of things that are gonna cover the entire bed. And then let's not neglect the mulch because the mulch is going to help insulate the soil. It's going to protect those roots from the colder temperatures, and that has just as much to do with the plant growth as it is the top part where the leaves and stuff are. So mulch, mulch, mulch, always mulch. I can't say it enough. Mulch. And then just finally, as you're going through, make sure that you are kind of paying attention to the weather forecast and the garden conditions.
Karin Velez [00:20:23]:
Make sure that you are ready to cover those plants if you get an unexpected cold snap. Here in West Central Missouri, it never fails. Sometime during, you know, the beginning part of October or middle part of October, we will have a cold snap, and we might get down to frosty temperatures. And then for at least 2 weeks, if not longer afterwards, the temperatures warm back up again. I mean, and sometimes it warms up to the point where it's almost 80 degrees. So if I have plants that are going strong in the fall garden and I see that first frost is coming in early, I know that I can go out there and I can cover all those plants and just get them through 1 or 2 nights where it gets really cold and uncover them, and I will get at least a full 2 weeks more of growth out of them, which means 2 more weeks of harvest. So be prepared to cover those plants if there's gonna be an unexpected cold snap. And you can adjust your planting schedule sort of as needed based on your actual weather patterns.
Karin Velez [00:21:23]:
I mean, it's good to have a plan, but we also need to know when we need to be flexible in our dates. We also need to be cognizant of which fall crops are really frost sensitive and which ones are more hardy. Right? So like I said, many of the fall crops are going to improve in flavor after you get a light frost because that cold converts starches in those plants to sugars. So if you have never eaten winter carrots, I absolutely encourage you to do a late crop of carrots and leave them in the garden really, really late. They will be the absolutely sweetest carrots you have ever tasted in your life. Okay? So if you've got those row covers on hand, even the sensitive crops like the leaf lettuces can survive a light frost or 2 with some protection. Head lettuces tend to be more frost tolerant than the leafy ones, but they also take longer to get to maturity. So I will plant the smaller head lettuce varieties just to make sure that I get a harvestable crop before any really hard freezes hit.
Karin Velez [00:22:25]:
Brassica usually do really well with frost. Kale and other hardy greens like collards also do well. Chard, not so much in my experience. So covers are absolutely recommended or, you know, just get it all harvested before you see your first frost coming and and call it good. This can take a little practice, which once again, is why a garden journal comes in so darn handy. You can look back on the previous seasons and recognize what it was that you did and how you might be able to tweak that to get a better result this time. So let's do, like, a hypothetical, don't know, planting schedule, for a fall garden in an area that has, like, an average first frost date of October 15th. Right? We want to right around now to mid July, we wanna start our broccoli, our cauliflower, our brussels sprouts, and our cabbages, those larger brassicas that need some time.
Karin Velez [00:23:24]:
And then in very late July, we're gonna start direct sowing our carrots, our beets, and our turnips. In that last week in July or maybe the 1st week in August, then we start transplanting those brass icas that we started. And at the same time, we are direct sowing our radishes and our spinach. Towards the middle of August, 2nd week maybe of August, then we do our direct sowing of lettuce and kale and Swiss chard. If you're going to attempt peas, that might be the time to do it. I haven't decided yet when I'm gonna try this. I think in previous years, I have done them at the the end of July when I've done my carrots and my beets, and it was just too early. It was still too hot.
Karin Velez [00:24:07]:
So this might be when I try it this year, probably about the 2nd week in August. And then in early September, you can do another succession planting of your lettuces and your radishes. And then start making sure that you have those row covers on hand as you move into October or your cold frames to help extend the season and protect your crops from those early frosts. Now if you're still not sure that you want to tackle the fall garden or if you need a little boost to get you going, you can join my fall garden planning challenge. It is designed to take you step by step through getting your fall garden plan in place. So each day for 5 days, I send you an email with maybe a video or 2 that is designed to get you from 0 to fully planned by the end of the week if you follow the steps, and it is totally free. Okay? These emails are designed to get you into fall garden planning gradually but intentionally. So by the end of the challenge, you are set up to jump into whatever seeds or plants you want to fill your fall garden with.
Karin Velez [00:25:19]:
And if you don't think that you have room in the garden for more stuff at this point, hello, interplanting and succession planting. So we'll go over exactly how you're gonna figure out where it can all fit, what to plant, and when, and even how to extend the season into winter with some season extension and planting techniques. So like I said, the challenge is absolutely free. And if you already planned on a fall garden, it's not a bad idea to take on this challenge anyway. It's always a good idea to take stock of what's going on and make changes based on current garden and weather conditions and patterns. That is what I am doing right now. So I will be doing all of this myself right alongside you even though I actually did plan the fall garden way back in January. I am going to reevaluate now, and I encourage you to do the same.
Karin Velez [00:26:51]:
So you can head to justgrowsomethingpodcast.com/fall to get signed up. I will leave that link in the episode description and in the show notes. And if you're on my email list, you already have that link in your in your email box this morning right after this episode releases, so just head to your inbox for all the info. Until next time, my gardening friends. Keep on cultivating that dream garden and get that fall garden plan started, and we'll talk again soon.