Planting fall vegetables

[Lee Borgersen]

  MASTER GARDENERS:

  Think about planting fall vegetables

By Wally Peck, Beltrami County Master Gardeners 


 



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Fall is not the time to give up on vegetable gardening. One way to extend the season and have fresh produce is to plant those vegetables that enjoy cool fall weather.


 

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The first vegetables that come to mind are lettuce, spinach and radishes. All three do well in cool temperatures and even survive the first frosts. If you have a raised bed, even better. A raised bed will allow you to use row cover or plastic to protect the plants when the temperature dips below freezing.



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Most cole crops do not mind a light frost or two. Properly known as cruciferous vegetables from the shape of their flowers, they include broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, collards, brussels sprouts, bok choi, arugula, Chinese cabbage and others. Some have a short time to maturity, others are longer that need to have been started in July to mature before a killing frost. Check the date to maturity to see how long they have to be seeded before a killing frost. We have had good luck with spinach, lettuce, kale, and other greens down to as low as 22 degrees.


One of the advantages of growing these vegetables late in the season is that you miss the summer cabbage butterflies that lay eggs and hatch into green worms that tend to riddle these tasty vegetables. Also, they resist bolting or going to seed when the nights and days are cooler.

Another vegetable that must be planted in the fall is garlic. Since it is a bulb, the plant needs to begin growing and establish roots before the ground freezes. In this part of Minnesota, garlic should be planted one to two weeks after the first killing frost (32 degrees). Since it is planted deep, the bulb establishes roots before the soil freezes deeply. Mulching after planting is recommended to protect the plant from the freeze-thaw cycles that occur early in the winter or in early spring.


A simple method of constructing a cold frame for late fall or early spring planting is to make a bed with two rows of straw bales. Separate bales by the width of old storm windows that are laid across them to admit sun and heat, extending the growing season inside the straw bale enclosure. Under the right conditions, it is not unusual to extend the season for as long as a full month after the rest of the garden has frozen. In place of storm windows, clear plastic may be stapled to a wooden frame that fits across the bales. Remember when gardening with a cold frame such to monitor the temperature inside on sunny days. It is not unusual for the temperature inside to get so hot it cooks the plants. Vent it if it gets too warm.





A fall-planted vegetable that even has its own website—www.egyptianwalkingonion.com—is the perennial onion called the Egyptian walking onion. This vegetable can be planted in the fall from bulbils that form from the flower structure of the parent plant. They winter very well in the north and produce green onions early in the spring. These bulbils can also be saved for future planting for a continuous supply of green onions, requiring only a short growing period.

Information on garlic, cold frame gardening, and other fall topics can be found in the Yard and Garden section of the University of Minnesota website—www.extension.umn.edu/garden/yardgarden/.

To seek local assistance, call 218-444-7916; leave your name, number, and question and a Master Gardener will respond.

[glenn57]

LITTLE slow there LEE.  i planted radishes for a fall crop 3 weeks ago!!!!!!!!!!! to early yet to tell iffin dem radishes will produce anything. they do however show some promise!!!!!!!!

but your OK in my book anyway. tanks for da reminder!!!!!!!!!!!

[Lee Borgersen]

     "LITTLE slow there LEE. "

  Old guys have feelings too

[glenn57]

     "LITTLE slow there LEE. "

  Old guys have feelings too

they do??????????????? i wouldnt know yet!!!!!!!!!!