When to plant fall crops?

[wifezilla]

I have never done a fall planting before. When do you plant for zone 4/5??? What grows the best? A lot of my Spring veggies went right to seed even though we had a lot of cool weather and I planted them in the bed on the North side of the house. Any tips???

 

[Ridgerunner]

I'm going to give one of my canned, boring, standard replies. Talk to your county extension agent. I got a calendar from the Arkansas extension office that tells me I should get my cabbage and broccoli seeds started now. That's tomorrow's project. It's a small phamplet that gives a month by month list of what you should be doing. I'd be surprised if your state doesn't have something similar.

 

[DrakeMaiden]

Or do a google search. You can often find that information on-line. It really depends more upon your average first frost date than it does on your USDA hardiness zone.

 

[Ron]

Sorry, can't help you down here. I start my Fall garden in a month or so while you are getting ready for snow! The previous posts are exactly right: consult your local extension agent or long-time gardeners in your area.

 

[COgirl]

Hey wifezilla funny you brought this up I just called CSU master gardener yesterday to ask the same thing.
I want to plant another batch of Spinach, collards and some parsnips, rutabaga and kohlrabi.
These are the dates I was given, basically the end of July through Mid-late August, for Spinach, collards and parsnips, I forgot to ask for specifics on the kohlrabi and rutabagas.

I did go ahead and put some kohlrabi in by my cukes, and will mulch well to keep the soil cooler.

I'm going to go a little later and try some of the stuff in the greenhouse too.

We can have the great fall experiment!! :rainbow-sun

 

[wifezilla]

Woo hoo! You rock

I found a bunch of PDF's that I downloaded but haven't sifted through yet. I have a camping trip coming up in early August. I was thinking of planting after that.

I have had a problem with grass trying to take over some of the beds. so I think I will give it the vinegar treatment after I harvest my summer crop.

 

[vfem]

I wish I was more help! I still have time for a second summer planting at the end of the month. I don't think I do a fall planting until the end of September here!

 

[warmfuzzies]

Whats the vinegar treatment? I have the same problem.

And I was thinking last of July, first of August, I am doing things like lettuce, beets, and I would like to try some broccoli and cabbage.

 

[digitS']

I have a fairly limited plan for fall plantings. Used to be, I didn't do any - guess I was just about gardened out by that time.

Things cool down quickly here and I'd imagine that to be true in CO, also. Blazing hot to frost . . . with a little rain, in between

I think of my planting of snow peas during the last week of July as a start to the fall planting. Everywhere in the northern hemisphere, this must be the hottest week of the year. There I am out there staggering around planting snow peas. I won't harvest anything like what can grow from a spring planting but there will be pods for stir-fry in September and I've picked them when they've been covered with frost (but not snow, yet ).

For some veggies - you can count back from your first frost date by using the days-to-maturity information on your seed packets but that's not covering all the bases with fall plantings. There's no way most tiny seeds have much of a chance during bake-oven weather to sprout and emerge. I suppose that the peas have the best chance in my garden because they are planted down about an inch and start off as a fairly hefty seedling. Just like their cousins the beans have a good chance planted now. Let's see, planting beans in early to mid July is "summer planting" but planting peas in late July is "fall planting" . . .

Some tiny thing that is in the top one-quarter inch of soil trying to grow under a searing summer sun in 90+ degrees doesn't have much of a chance. I wait until we've got some rain and significant cooling in late August for those things. And, I hope for rain earlier rather than later.

After awhile, it looks a little like a spring salad garden in places again . The plants don't have much time and with steadily cooling rather than steadily warming temps, their growth will slow as the weeks pass. Still, it is sure nice to have the leafy greens back again.

Of course, the harvest of crops that have been growing since spring will be going on in September also. Corn, pole beans, sweet onions, tomatoes, cucumbers, melons with the salad fixin's - as long as the weather stays warm, it don't get much better than this .


Steve

 

[Rence]

I plan on planting a fall garden as well. I'm in zone 6, but in 4/5 I think you can still do spinach, broccoli raab, rutabaga, onions, potatoes, collards, kale, mustard greens, peas, beans, fava beans, fennel, kohrabi, carrots, turnips, escarole, ...to name a few. What do you like to plant?

There's this book: Four-Season Harvest, by Eliot Colemen, that describes how the author protects his garden and harvestes year-round. He lives in Ma. So if he can do it, so can we

I'm starting to get my supplies ready now.
I had to replant my summer squash because mine were attacked by bugs. And I replaced my failed attempts at spinach and broccoli raab with swiss chard.

Two years ago, I had a really abundant garden. But the chickens and guineas got to it all before I could. Now I have an enclosed garden and the chickens and guineas can't get to it, and my garden is a pathetic lil thing. I'm trying to salvage the summer stuff, but looking forward to the fall stuff.