I know that in the heat of the summer a lot of people have other things on their minds than the cold,wet, and dreary days of fall/winter. Now is the time to be thinking of those days though! This is the time to start your Fall/Winter garden. In most places of the country there is still plenty of time left to get those seeds in the ground to have a bountiful Fall garden. Here are my top five plants that I’m putting in this week for our Fall garden:
- Beets-with the edible root and tasty leaves beets are a must. They store well and the flavor is enhanced by the cool fall weather. If you’re not a big fan of the earthy flavor beets can sometimes have, try some of the orange or even white cultivars. They tend to have that same sweetness without the “dirty” flavor.
- Radish-these little guys go so fast that you could probably get two or three successive harvests of them. Try some of the multicolored Easter Egg seed packs for a little diversity!
- Carrots-they only get sweeter with the cold! I really like
carrots for the Fall/Winter garden because you can just leave them in the ground until you’re ready to eat them. They’ll last all winter and into spring without losing much in the way of quality if you simply leave them in the ground, put a nice layer of mulch over the top to keep the ground from freezing solid, and just go out and dig up what you need for the day. - Kale-this is another of those crops that get better with a touch of frost. Kale can sometimes be a little bitter (depending on the variety), but after a little frost it really sweetens up. Fermenting kale is a great way to preserve the harvest as well.
- Peas-even if you don’t have time to get a mature crop these plants will enrich your soil for next season with it’s nitrogen fixing capabilities. It’s a win-win! Tasty snow peas and free garden fertilizer.
Well that’s what we have going in this year. What do you plan on planting now for your winter harvest….
