Anyone gearing up for a fall garden?

[Ken B]

We just seeded a bunch of collards and beets and lettuce and peas, and will be transplanting out some broccoli seedlings as soon as we've got more space worked up.

It won't be this year -- didn't get myself organized for it -- but maybe next year we'll put out a whole bunch of kale varieties for the fall/winter and try to figure out what's the most cold-hardy. (Reading seed catalogs, different companies advocate for their own favorite kale as being the most cold-hardy they know -- I'm really curious to try everyone's favorites and see what does best here in Virginia! Of course, if I do this, it'll probably mean for a mild winter that doesn't get cold enough to really test the kale...)

I really love fall/winter gardening, here's a link to something I wrote up for SESE -- http://www.southernexposure.com/sout...de-ezp-38.html -- if anyone's got q's, happy to try to answer!

[BackyardFarm]

I just planted beans, radishes, carrots, beets, and some greens for fall harvest (well the radishes will be ready in a month and then I'm going to plant another round of them for fall).

I've never tried fall gardening before but this year I had some leftover seeds (didn't get my early spring crops in on time) so I'm giving it a shot. This thread reminds me I still need to plant some more peas for fall harvest too.

[greenthumbomaha]

I failed at a fall garden last year so I started different crops for this try. Broccoli cabbage and cauliflower all made giant leaves with no heads. Brussels Sprouts made thick stalks and little pea sprouts. For this year I started fall beets last week and this week the peas have been going in. I'll be trying bok choy lettuces and radishes when the weather moderates. Carrots are a challange. We are still getting 90 degree days and September can be so warm they close schools. Blink and it will frost. Such is Nebraska gardening.

- Lisa

Being tempted by the garden ready plants at Burpee - very limited selection though.

[Cole_Robbie]

My tomato plants succumbed to blight and septoria. I ripped out everything and planted green beans. In my high tunnel, I have cukes, basil, cilantro, lettuce and salad greens, mustard greens, pod peas, and some yellow beans.

[imp]

Mmmm, I planted some things, but also what I would consider more of "summer" crops, since we are still so hot.

Yellow wax bush beans, green filet bush beans, Red Swan bush beans, some brussel sprouts ( Red Bull), scalloped yellow squash and a couple hills of yellow crookneck squash, some Mirai corn, some okra, with chards, oriental greens, beets, peas, radishes, leeks and lettuce to come later yet.

I'm pushing the envelope with the corn, but sometimes a gamble can be a good thing.

Anyone ever grow any parsips and if so, what do they taste like???

[Worth1]

Originally Posted by imp

Anyone ever grow any parsips and if so, what do they taste like???

A long time ago but not lately.
A parsnip tastes like nothing you have ever had before, I love them.
You cant eat them raw like a carrot, they have to be cooked and they have a sweet taste.
A rather woody root crop but tender when cooked.
Parsnips go good with just about any other cooked vegetable or on its own.
You really should try them.

Worth

[joseph]

After I threshed the bok choi seed pods I tossed them into the garden and tilled them in. I have volunteer bok choi spread over a wide area. Woo Hoo. A fall garden!

[AlittleSalt]

I was thinking about tossing a few seeds in ground (Besides tomatoes and peppers) Wonder if summer squash will produce in the fall? Maybe some carrots and onions too. Oh yeah, and spinach/collards - that sort of thing.

I like how Joseph wrote above, just till it under and if it grows - woohoo. I'm in the same frame of mind.

[shelleybean]

My collards are up and thinned. Carrots and onions are coming up now. I'm still waiting for it to cool off a little more before I plant turnip greens, beets and lettuce. A lot of summer veggies are still coming in and taking up most of the space in the garden right now.

[Cole_Robbie]

My beans were popping up on the 4th day from planting. I pulled back the plastic mulch that had been around my tomato plants. The soil was very loose and light. I've never seen beans come up that quickly.

[ginger2778]

I'm gearing up. That is my main tomato season.

[swamper]

I direct sowed alpine daikon radish, black magic and rogue kale and tendergreen chinese cabbage in the last week of july. I also sowed buttercrunch lettuce, batavian endive, seance and debuisson endive in flats. those were transplanted to the ground last weekend and watered daily. I lost a few lettuce plants. All those cells have multiple plants so will be thinned to the strongest.

I also direct sowed arugula, cilantro, komatsuna, and mache last weekend. so far it all looks good. there are about 250 square feet total, very dense plantings. in past years i've direct seeded lettuces and endives for fall, but found it hard to keep up with the weeding as the weeds grow fast when soil is warm. Galinsoga seems to be the most troublesome weed as it grows so fast.

[imp]

Originally Posted by greenthumbomaha

I was going to post this on this topic myself tonight so it must be time to get rolling.

Cole Robbie, just go forward and don't look back. Every year is different and despite our hard work and planning, nature still has the last hurrah.

I didn't get anything productive out of my first fall garden last year. Lots of leaves but no broccoli cabbage brussels sprouts or beets. Carrots didn't germinate. This summer I'm skipping the seed starting for everything but beets. I've been succession starting beet seeds in small peat flats for the past week. The season is so crazy I'm first harvesting my spring crop so no room to direct sow.

I'll be direct seeding planting peas and greens for fall harvest. Not as exciting as a full fall garden but I'm still learning and it's a break from tomatoes. I envy all you southerners with the second veggie crop though , double the fun.

- Lisa

You can eat the leaves and stalks of broccoli as well as the heads, so if that is all you get, you still have something out of it. I think you can do that with the cabbages, too, don't know about the rest of the things.

[jillian]

Started from seed a couple weeks ago: 4 varieties of kale, rainbow chard, radishes, lettuce, kholrabi, and turnips(for the greens). I wish I liked the turnip roots Also started sugar snap peas and snow peas a few weeks ago and they are coming along nicely. I have planted carrots in containers but have neglected to thin them, so not expecting to get any. The green tops are very lush and pretty though!

[b54red]

I have beans and cucumbers in cups and they will be ready to be set out in a week or two if I can get a bed ready. I just started my Brussels sprouts, cabbage, broccoli, and cauliflower three days ago in the greenhouse. I will start more of those in a few weeks but I wanted to get some in early in case we have another early hard winter like last year. I will be starting my onion seed in the greenhouse in a month to be set out in January or whenever they are big enough. I put out my fall tomatoes in mid June and the ones I set out in mid May are still making a few tomatoes and my older plants are making even fewer but still putting out an occasional edible fruit. My bell peppers are still making like crazy and they will probably keep making til it freezes. If my fall and winter garden does half as good as my summer garden then I will be giving most of it away but usually sudden heat waves ruin much of the fall stuff causing it to head too early but maybe we will have a smooth transition into fall without crazy temperature fluctuations.

Bill