Is it Time to Plant Your Fall Vegetable Garden?

Would you like to have a garden this fall?

Can you believe that we are already talking about planting a fall garden? This summer has flown by. Schools all over the nation are starting and trees in northern zones are ready to turn color. Today, we wanted to share with you about getting started on your fall garden.

Frost Dates

Many vegetables like broccoli grow better in the cold making fall vegetable gardens a great idea. To know when you want to plant you fall garden, you need to know when your areas first frost is likely to be. You can find that out by visiting the Old Farmers Almanac’s Frost Chart for United States. It’s important to note that the dates are based on an average and frosts do not always happen on the exact day.

The next step is to decide what vegetables that you would like to plant, like broccoli. As an example, we can use the city of Chicago, Illinois. According to the Old Farmer’s Almanac’s Frost Chart, Chicago’s first frost could come as early as October 24. If someone in Chicago wants to grow broccoli this fall, they would need to plant the broccoli 50-55 days before the frost. Which means that for those living in the Chicago area, the broccoli should be planted from August 31 through September 5.

Prepare Your Garden

Here is what Better Homes and Gardens says about how to get your garden ready for the fall,

Make room for your fresh crop of fall plants by ripping out any varieties that are no longer performing well (such as tomatoes that have succumbed to disease or peas that have burned out from the heat) or you have already harvested (potatoes, onions, or sweet corn, for example). Pull any weeds, as well, so they don’t steal moisture and nutrients from your young plants.”

Examples of cool season vegetables include:

As with all vegetable growing, proper watering is essential. What cool season vegetables would you like to plant in your garden this fall?