It’s August and although I’m still getting lots of hot weather crops, like peppers, tomatoes and my second crop of cucumbers are starting to come in, I’m also busy planting and tending to my fall garden.
Wait, what? A fall garden?
If you don’t know, as I didn’t prior to last year, you can plant cooler weather crops that you may typically think of as harvesting in late spring, for a fall harvest as well. Some of these crops include lettuce and a variety of greens, herbs, peas, and brassicas, think radishes, broccoli, cauliflower and cabbage, as well as root crops like carrots, beets and rutabagas.
While late August may be too late to start some things from seed, such as broccoli, cabbage, beets, cauliflower, and rutabagas, you may be able to find starter plants of those brassicas at your local nursery.
But if you want to keep it simple, focus on items that grow quickly like radishes, and greens that can be eaten while young and tender (at around 35-40 days) like kale, arugula, salad bowl type lettuces, spinach, and chard and herbs like parsley, cilantro and chives, which all thrive in cooler weather.
If you’re planning on starting a fall garden, I’d love to know what you’re planting. Let me know in the comments!
Amanda Bretz 