6 Vegetables to Plant in the Fall
As fall approaches and summer crops wind down, gardeners should begin planning their next crops! There are plenty of wonderful, easy to grow plants that you can easily grow through the season. Pull out those summer plants, clear out your weeds, work in some compost… and refresh your summer garden vegetables for the fall with quick maturing vegetables that thrive in cool weather. Here are six vegetables to plant in the fall.
1. Garlic
Garlic should be planted about four to six weeks before the ground freezes. Before you plant garlic, you must loosen the soil to a depth of at least eight inches and mix in fertilizer. Then, break up garlic into cloves and plant them three to four inches deep and four inches apart with the pointy end up and one foot between the rows. Once you’ve watered the soil to help it settle, cover the beds with four to six layers of straw. This will keep the soil warm and allow the cloves to establish roots!
2. Kale
Kale thrives in the fall but should be harvested before the ground freezes in the winter. First, mix one and a half cups of fertilizer to the top three to four inches of soil and plant the kale seeds one-quarter to one-half inches deep. After two weeks of letting them settle, thin the seedlings to leave them spaces eight to twelve inches apart. In order to care for them, water the plants regularly, and mulch the soil to allow plans to continue to produce leaves through the winter.
3. Scallions
Scallions have a much shorter growth period than regular onions and are quite frost tolerant. They can be harvested eight to ten weeks after planting (once they reach about a foot tall.) These vegetables need rich soil that drains well and require constant moisture. Additionally, these seeds should be planted about one-quarter inch deep, a half inch apart, and with twelve to eighteen inches between rows.
4. Brussels Sprouts
Brussels sprouts grow best in cool weather and seedlings should be planted six to ten weeks before the first frost. They thrive in rich, moist soil, and should be rotated through various areas in the garden each season. First, enrich the soil with fertilizer or compost, then sow seeds one-fourth to one-half inch deep four inches apart in rows. After one week, thin the seedlings so that you have one to two feet of space between plants and check your soil regularly to yield big Brussels sprout harvests.
5. Turnips
Turnips are cool-weather vegetables. They shouldn’t be grown in hot summer months and become sweeter and more tender when grown in the fall. Sow seeds two to three weeks before the last frost date in a site with the full sun with well-draining soil. Before you plant, you should mis the soil with a two to four-inch layer of compost of manure and remove stones to give the turnips enough space to expand belowground. Scatter the seeds and once they are four inches high, then them to four to six inches apart with rows that are twelve inches apart. Finally, mulch to retain the moisture of the soil and suppress weeds.
6. Parsnips
Parsnips are a cool-season crop that should be harvested after a hard frost. Often grown as an annual vegetable, they need a long growing season. Start by loosening the soil to a depth of twelve to fifteen inches deep and mix in a two to four-inch layer of compost! Once you’ve planted seeds one-half inch deep, thin them after seedlings emerge so they are three to six inches apart! It’s customary for parsnips to be left in the ground over a few touches of frost.
These six vegetables to plant in the fall are easy to maintain and harvest. Before planting, makes sure that you read the seed package. This will tell you the average days to harvest and give you all of the information you need! Additionally, consider using Topsoil Pros for all of your top soil needs!
