FALL VEGETABLE GARDENING
FALL VEGETABLE GARDENING Talks in the Garden -- 15 August 2012 Arlington Reads, Arlington Grows -- People’s Garden at the Central Library Fall gardening begins NOW! Fall gardening allows you to harvest fresh vegetables up to and past fall frosts. Many vegetables can be planted in July and August for fall harvest. Later plantings of warm-season crops, such as sweet corn, cucumbers, and beans, can be harvested until the first killing frost, and some warm-season crops may be planted as late a mid-August. First killing frost is around early to mid-November in Arlington. This varies year to year, and from place to place the microclimate is also highly variable. For instance, the Library garden, with its south-facing wall and massive masonry, is a very warm site with a very late first frost date. Cool-season crops, such as broccoli, cauliflower, bok choi, cabbage, lettuce and peas, grow well during the cool fall days and they will withstand light frosts. Last winter, lettuce and broccoli overwintered! Frost-hardy crops like carrots, leeks, kale, Brussels sprouts, spinach, and turnips, can always be harvested long after freezing weather. Timely planting is the key to a successful fall garden. See the chart (over) for guidance specific to ARLINGTON. Prepare the soil by restoring nutrients removed by earlier crops. A light layer of compost will boost soil nutrients before planting fall crops. Dry soil may inhibit seed germination during July and August. Make sure the soil is moist before, and cover seeds more deeply than in the spring (chart adjusted already for this). An old method for germinating seeds in midsummer is to plant, water well, and place a board (not cedar or pressure-treated) over the seeded soil, and check daily until the sprouts are visible, then remove the board. A thin organic mulch on top will help keep the soil cool and moist. Mulching between rows also helps keep soil cooler and moister. Transplants can withstand heat, drought and pests better than direct-seeded plants. If you do seed directly, use pelletized seeds for carrots and lettuce, or for other seeds, pre-sprout seeds indoors, allowing them to reach a length of less than an inch. Sprouted seeds may be planted deeper than normal to help prevent drying out, and they should be watered well until they break the soil surface. Care should be taken not to break off the sprouts when planting them. Fall plantings MAY have few insect problems, as they avoid the peak insect activity period of midsummer. However, some insects, such as cabbageworm and harlequin bug, may be even worse late in the year than in summer. Avoid some pests and diseases by rotating crops of different families, or providing more than a week’s break between spring and fall crops of the same type. Some of the best-quality vegetables are produced during the warm days and cool nights of the fall season. Protection of vegetable plants from frost extends your season even further. Use plastic sheets, old blankets or tablecloths, or newspaper, but remember to remove these coverings by mid-morning. In the heat of August, planting more crops may be far from your mind. But think ahead and look forward to the fall garden which offers a different satisfaction through prolonged harvest of fresh vegetables.
Plant your broccoli! Seed carrots! Lettuce should be seeded soon!
Leeks and Kale in the snow!
Below is a rough guide for planting vegetables for fall harvest in Arlington. Don’t try to go far away and use this chart. It is adjusted for our first frost date of early to mid-November. Here’s an interesting note on frost dates from the Washington Post, 9/16/2004, Adrian Higgins: “ ... the first frost is a peculiar thing in our region. It is possible and likely for gardeners in Leesburg to see a first killing frost in late October and you in Springfield won't get one until early November and my sheltered garden in Alexandria until mid November and some gardeners in Georgetown until late November. What often happens is that we get one degree of frost inside the Beltway while gardens outside get, say, three or four degrees, and that difference is the difference between a frost bitten landscape or not. You can also cover with newspapers or blankets or vegetable fabric things like basil or impatiens, and get them through the first frost and then wait under three weeks before a real freeze arrives and ends the show. So that first measure of frost protection can pay great dividends in extending the season into November.”
Guide for planting vegetables for fall harvest in Arlington, Virginia
VEGETABLE Beans Beets Bok choi Broccoli Brussels sprouts Cabbage Carrot Cauliflower Chard Collards Cucumber Garlic Kale Leeks Lettuce Peas or Snow Peas Radish Spinach Summer Squash Turnip
DEPTH for Fall
SPACING
FALL Planting dates
1½"
3-4"
up to 8/15
1" transplants transplants transplants transplants ¾" transplants 1½" transplants ¾" cloves @ 2" transplants transplants ¾" 2 to 3" ¾" ¾" 2" ¾"
2" 6-12" 14-24" 14-24" 14-24" 2" 14-24" 6" 14-24" 12-48" 6" 14-24" 6-12" 2-3" 1" 1" 3-4" 18-36" 2-3"
8/15-9/15 8/1-9/15 8/1-9/1 8/1-9/1 8/1-9/1 8/15-9/15 8/1-9/1 8/1-9/15 8/1-9/1 up to 8/15 9/15-11/1 8/1-9/15 8/15-9/15 8/1-9/15 8/1-9/1 8/1-10/1 8/1-10/1 up to 8/15 8/15-10/1
Pink = giving seeds away today! Green = giving away seedlings today! Started one month ago. Yellow = plant now: not frost-hardy
Contact info: Donald C. Weber, Research Entomologist, USDA Agricultural Research Service Invasive Insect Biocontrol & Behavior Laboratory, Bldg. 011A, BARC-West, Beltsville, MD 20705 [email protected] http://www.ars.usda.gov/pandp/people/people.htm?personid=30842
Plant your broccoli! Seed carrots! Lettuce should be seeded soon!
Leeks and Kale in the snow!
Below is a rough guide for planting vegetables for fall harvest in Arlington. Don’t try to go far away and use this chart. It is adjusted for our first frost date of early to mid-November. Here’s an interesting note on frost dates from the Washington Post, 9/16/2004, Adrian Higgins: “ ... the first frost is a peculiar thing in our region. It is possible and likely for gardeners in Leesburg to see a first killing frost in late October and you in Springfield won't get one until early November and my sheltered garden in Alexandria until mid November and some gardeners in Georgetown until late November. What often happens is that we get one degree of frost inside the Beltway while gardens outside get, say, three or four degrees, and that difference is the difference between a frost bitten landscape or not. You can also cover with newspapers or blankets or vegetable fabric things like basil or impatiens, and get them through the first frost and then wait under three weeks before a real freeze arrives and ends the show. So that first measure of frost protection can pay great dividends in extending the season into November.”
Guide for planting vegetables for fall harvest in Arlington, Virginia
VEGETABLE Beans Beets Bok choi Broccoli Brussels sprouts Cabbage Carrot Cauliflower Chard Collards Cucumber Garlic Kale Leeks Lettuce Peas or Snow Peas Radish Spinach Summer Squash Turnip
DEPTH for Fall
SPACING
FALL Planting dates
1½"
3-4"
up to 8/15
1" transplants transplants transplants transplants ¾" transplants 1½" transplants ¾" cloves @ 2" transplants transplants ¾" 2 to 3" ¾" ¾" 2" ¾"
2" 6-12" 14-24" 14-24" 14-24" 2" 14-24" 6" 14-24" 12-48" 6" 14-24" 6-12" 2-3" 1" 1" 3-4" 18-36" 2-3"
8/15-9/15 8/1-9/15 8/1-9/1 8/1-9/1 8/1-9/1 8/15-9/15 8/1-9/1 8/1-9/15 8/1-9/1 up to 8/15 9/15-11/1 8/1-9/15 8/15-9/15 8/1-9/15 8/1-9/1 8/1-10/1 8/1-10/1 up to 8/15 8/15-10/1
Pink = giving seeds away today! Green = giving away seedlings today! Started one month ago. Yellow = plant now: not frost-hardy
Contact info: Donald C. Weber, Research Entomologist, USDA Agricultural Research Service Invasive Insect Biocontrol & Behavior Laboratory, Bldg. 011A, BARC-West, Beltsville, MD 20705 [email protected] http://www.ars.usda.gov/pandp/people/people.htm?personid=30842
