Fresh Fall Veggies From Your Garden

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Mary Moore

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Photo Credit: Mary Moore

Keep those summertime plants that continue to produce fruit into the fall – like melons – in your new-season kitchen garden.

Think gardening season is over just because fall’s moved in? Not so fast! Crisp lettuce, tender peas and hearty baby carrots are just a few of the vegetables you can grow in a fall kitchen garden. Not only will the rewards from your fall harvest taste good, they’ll look good, too! With a little planning, you can extend your growing season, enjoy the beauty of an ornamental garden and all the while munch on fresh veggies well into fall!

The first step in planning your fall kitchen garden is to know your plants. Some vegetables, like cherry tomatoes, melons and winter squash, produce fruit into autumn, but other vegetables are beginning to slow down and need to be removed to make way for the next season’s plants. As you consider the fate of your summer crops, ask yourself these two questions:

Are the plants producing inferior-quality vegetables?
Are they dependent on a long day of sunlight and heat to produce or ripen their fruit?

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This little piggie likes broccoli… (Don’t be afraid to use a little humor when selecting kitchen garden ornaments.)

If the answer to either is “yes,” send these plants to the compost bin. (Healthy tomato plants may be the exception here – they’ll flush again in late summer, so it’s okay to stretch the season by removing any dried leaves or spent branches from plants that are still producing fruit.)

After you remove the old veggies – and before you plant new ones – it’s important to prepare the soil. After all, your summer vegetables have just spent several months working hard to produce food, and the soil that’s provided them with a wealth of nutrients now needs replenishing. Choose a balanced fertilizer, like a 10-10-10 formulation, and spread it according to the directions on the packaging. Using a rake, work the fertilizer lightly into the soil and water thoroughly.

Warnings

Follow directions carefully when adding any amendment to the soil before planting. It’s possible to burn plants with too much fertilizer or by adding amendments that contain too much nitrogen, like composted cow or chicken manure. (After your fall kitchen garden is spent, it’s okay to add those high-nitrogen composted manures because they’re able to “mellow” over winter.)

Facts

The three numbers on the front of fertilizer packaging represent the percentage of nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium that are present in the fertilizer. For example, in a bag of 4-6-4 fertilizer, 4 percent is nitrogen, 6 percent is phosphorus and 4 percent is potassium. The remaining product is made of inert materials that help to evenly spread the active ingredients.

Tips

Look for strong, healthy plants when purchasing your vegetables. Avoid ones that are wilted or have a noticeable pest or disease problem. Check out seed packages, too. They should’ve been kept in cool, dry conditions. Don’t pick any packages that look warped – they may have been exposed to humidity and heat, so the seed may not be viable.

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