Gardening in the spring is exciting.  It’s wonderful to see the snow go away after a long winter and to be able to transplant tomatoes into the garden or to direct snow green beans.  However, weeding and harvesting in hot, humid weather is not my favorite part of gardening–at all.

Can you imagine the joy I felt when someone told me about fall gardening?  Yes, even in colder climates it is possible to grow vegetables with fall just around the corner.

One of the reasons a fall garden is an excellent idea is that your seeds may sprout more quickly because temperatures are still relatively high.  Second, there are fewer pests to attack your vegetables in the fall.  Third, it gives you more time to grow food.  Fourth, if you were unable to plant this spring, you can still plant some food now for a fall harvest!

1.  Spinach

Spinach is such a delicious vegetable that is full of nutrition such as iron, potassium, and magnesium.

Spinach can be grown in the spring, but where I have grown it, it quickly bolts because sometimes there is only one week of spring weather.

Most spinach is cold hardy; therefore, if you have a light frost coming up, you can cover the spinach with an old sheet or towel overnight, and it will be fine.

I like to grow just the leaves of the spinach and plant many seeds in a space space (usually a container).  This way, in about three weeks, there is spinach to harvest, and in another week or two, there is more spinach to harvest.  This is called cut and come again.

2.  Radishes

Radishes take only thirty days to grow and are a perfect crop for fall.  You may be able to grow them twice depending on how mild your fall weather is and how long it lasts, although radishes are not afraid of cool weather usually.  Check your seed packet to make sure, but, again, you can cover the radishes overnight if you see that the temperatures will be in the low 30s.

3.  Lettuce

Lettuce is another vegetable that likes cooler weather.  I plant lettuce like I do spinach, with many seeds in a small space, to grow just the leaves.

You can have freshly harvested lettuce within a month for your salads and sandwiches if you plant it soon.  🙂

4.  Beets

Beets are a delicious root vegetable that can be shredded and added to salads or added to soups.  They need about fifty days to mature depending on the variety.

5.  Garlic 

Garlic is excellent for the immune and cardiovascular systems, and there is nothing like homegrown garlic.

Please do not plant garlic you purchase from the store because most of it is from China.  Purchase it instead from a local organic farmer or a reputable source online, such as MIgardener.

You wan to plant your garlic before your ground freezes, water it well, and mulch it well with leaves.  If you live in a warmer climate without a freeze, you can store the garlic in your refrigerator for two to four weeks before planting it.  It will be ready to harvest in the late spring/early summer.

A seasoned local gardener can tell you what your area’s first frost date is.  If you add together the germination time and maturity time (both included on the seed packet), you can count the days to see if you have enough time to plant your favorite fall crops.

If you started plants such as broccoli inside, you can transplant those into the garden as well.

If you enjoyed this article, you may also find value in these three:

7 Gardening Essentials

5 Benefits of Gardening

7 Reasons to Have a Container Garden

Please share this article with a gardening friend–or an aspiring gardener.  🙂  Thank you!