Fall Greens In Your Vegetable Garden

Summer is the time when you find yourself sneaking around in the middle of the night leaving zucchinis on the neighbor's doorsteps.  After a summer filled with squash, beans, and tomatoes, the vegetable gardener may say, "What's next?"  As the "main season" summer vegetables begin to fizzle out, the gardener begins to wonder what to do with all this open space.  Fall is filled with opportunities.

Last week we referred to "cool season" weeds which prefer to cool weather to hot weather.  Likewise, there are vegetables that fit in the category of "cool season" crops including members of the Mustard family, the genus of onions, and other assorted vegetables.  The Mustard family (Brassicaceae) includes turnips, kale, mustard, collards, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, brussel sprouts, and kohl rabi.  The Onion genus (Allium) includes onion sets, "potato" onions (old fashioned multipliers), Egyptian onions, leeks, and garlic.  Other "cool season" crops are beets, carrots, cress, endive, lettuce, peas, radish, spinach, and swiss chard.

    "Cool season" vegetables prefer the cool weather that gradually evolves in the fall .  Hard freezes kill many of the "cool season" vegetables, but light frosts actually enhance their flavor.  The "cool season" vegetables can also be planted in the early spring but occasionally encounter an early hot spell and are often under siege by spring insects such as moths which produce the destructive cabbage looper (worm).  Conversely, the fall can only get cooler and the insects are less active.

    Members of the Mustard family are greens and "cole crops".  Turnips, kale, mustard, collards, and kohl rabi may be started from seed from August 10th through August 30th.  Seeds for the "cole crops" of cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, and brussel sprouts should have been planted between July 1st and July 15th in order to be transplanted in mid to late August.  Transplants should be readily available at any garden center in the last half of August.

    The onions love cold weather and can only be harmed by ice as a result of being planted in low areas where water tends to stand.  Plant then in October for harvest in April or May.  Onions and garlic are available in bulb form and should be spaced about 6 inches apart.  Leeks would need to be started from seed and transplanted.

    Seeds of other fall vegetables should be planted during the month of August.  Spinach in particular should be planted in August.  Last minute efforts in September have produced very poor germination, so be on time.  The seed is sometimes sluggish to germinate but is well worth the effort.

    In closing I would like to point out that not only do fall crops provide an extended harvest, but they also provide valuable cover to an otherwise exposed soil prone to erosion left unplanted.  Fall is the favorite season of the above vegetables.

Andy Lynn