Fall Vegetables
While a lot of attention is paid to spring vegetable plantings, you should take advantage of the second growing season that begins in midsummer, usually around July or August (depending on your Hardiness Zone). Start your seeds indoors and plant them in the garden in about a month. For about 3 months, the plants will grow and produce food for you until the first frost.
Plant your vegetable seeds a bit deeper in the fall because of higher heat and low moisture levels in the soil. If it is still hot while starting your cool-weather crops, you may need to provide shade with cloth or other container plants until the weather cools. Water the fall vegetable seeds well and do not let them try out in the hot sun. Check often for pest damage and use an organic pesticide if needed. Some container plants are very susceptible to garden pests in the fall, and you may not have luck with certain vegetables.
After your vegetable seedlings have experienced the heat of summer, they will also experience the first frosts in your area. Fall vegetables will do well after the frost. Just make sure the potting soil and your plant containers are insulated by tying burlap around the containers. Many of the cool-weather-hardy vegetables can actually do well with no protection against frost. Cold-hardy vegetable plants should be harvested or mulched and well-insulated before a hard freeze. If you protect and insulate them, root crops can produce throughout winter and even into the spring during mild winters. Do remember, though, that root crops grown in containers will freeze in warmer temperatures than the same plants that are grown underground. If growing fall vegetables in plant containers, you may only be able to grow them in mild winters.
Fall Vegetables
There are some delicious fall vegetables that will grow for you in colder weather, including:
Asparagus
Beets
Broccoli
Brussels sprouts
Cabbage
Carrots
Cauliflower
Collard greens
Corn
Cucumber
Kale
Lettuce
Mustard
Onions
Radishes
Spinach
Squash
Turnips
