Many gardeners do not even consider autumn, or winter gardening, because of the frosts that might make an early appearance and possibly destroy the crops.  On the contrary, autumn gardening can result in excellent vegetables and will extend crops, long after spring plantings are finished.  Vegetables produced from autumn planting, are sometimes sweeter and milder, than those grown in the summer and offer a better taste, to the same old veggies.

What you choose to grow, during the fall, will depend on your available space and what you like to eat, just like spring plants.  Even the crops that enjoy the heat, such as tomatoes, sweet potatoes, okra and peppers, will keep on producing, until the frosts arrive. This can be pretty late in the year, in the southern areas.  However, there are some plants that will quit, towards the end of summer, like snap-beans, summer squash and cucumbers.  If these vegetables are planted around the middle of the summer, they can also be harvested, right up until the first frosts. Hardy, tough vegetables, will grow until the temperature is as low as 20 degrees, but those that aren’t as strong, will only be able to grow through light frosts.  Remember that if you have root and tuber plants and the tops are killed by a freeze, then the edible part can be saved, if a large amount of mulch is used.

When fall gardening, make sure to pick the vegetables with the shortest growing season, so they can be full grown and harvested, before the frost arrives.  Most seed packages, will be labelled “early season”, or you can try to find seeds boasting the shortest growing periods, to maturity.  You may want to start looking for your seeds for fall gardening, as early as in spring, or early summer. They are usually no longer stocked, towards the end of summer.  If they are stored in a cool and dry location, they can safely be kept, until you are ready to plant.

In order to know exactly when the best time to start your fall plantings, you need to know when the first hard frost, will hit your area.  One of the best ways to tell this, is by a Farmer’s Almanac.  They will be able to give you exact dates and are normally pretty accurate.  You will also need to know exactly how long, it is going to take your plants to mature.

To get your soil ready for fall gardening, you must first remove any leftover spring, or summer crops and weeds.  Crops leftover from the last season, can end up spreading bacteria and disease if left in the garden.  Spread a couple of inches of compost, or mulch over the garden area, to increase the nutrients. If spring plants were heavily fertilized, then it may not need much, if any at all.  Till the top layer of soil, wet it down and let it set, for about 12-24 hours.  Once this has been done, you are ready to start planting.

Many gardeners will avoid fall gardening, so they don’t have to deal with frosts, but if tough,sturdy vegetables are planted, they can withstand a few frosts and still give you some wonderful produce.  Fall gardening gives you the chance to enjoy your vegetable garden, for at least a little longer and if practiced in conjunction with normal spring/summer crops, can provide year round produce.

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Sally Robson is an up and coming, South African internet marketer, with a vision of empowering all fellow South Africans and non U.S folk, to have equal opportunity and success on the internet. She and her husband Derek, have started a string of sites, resources, courses and articles, as part of Dersalsites. She also has a passion for gardening.

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