Don't stop now! There is still food to grow!!!​

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By now, most of the summer vegetables have gone by and you probably have a  lot of empty space in your garden. Jump on the opportunity to grow fall vegetables that were not productive in the heat of the summer. We have planted a variety of greens, lettuces, beets, radishes, turnips, carrots, green beans, broccoli, cabbage, sugar snap peas, and even some cover crop. These vegetables are frost hardy, very easy to care for, productive, and will produce well into the winter and are delicious and nutritious to boot!

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Greens are so easy to grow- we plant them in solid rows about 6" apart to maximize yield. It is the same with lettuce and they will all just roll along. Just pick the leaves as they mature and leave the plants to continue growing- don't cut all of the leaves off of any of the plants only take the larger ones. Also take the leaves when they are young and tender rather than waiting until they are large- they tend to be milder and more tender when they are still new.

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The beans and peas will thrive in cooler weather. Our beans have just begun to produce and the plants are not as bothered by insects as they were in the spring when the bugs really took a toll as they were in production. The insects should really disappear when we get a little frost. The peas were not as quick to mature but hopefully will be productive, and at the end of the fall season we will leave them on the ground to till them in in the spring to take advantage of their nitrogen fixing properties.

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The cover crop is actually a mix of winter rye and sweet peas that will fix nitrogen and inhibit weed growth. We will hoe them into the  soil in march also. If you do nothing else plant a cover crop to improve your soil and inhibit weeds- this will give you a leg-up in the spring. Cover crop seed is inexpensive and readily available wherever you buy vegetable seed.

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We went on vacation for almost two weeks from mid-September until the first of October and when we got back the garden had really taken off again with green beans producing, the greens filled in, and the turnips and beets beginning to mature.

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If you are bucket gardening, greens and lettuce will perform beautifully and can be moved around to sunny southern exposures against the wall of a building to extend the season. Portability has its advantages!

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