Sunday, July 26, 2009

Great Ideas for Gardening Vegetables in the Fall

By Dave Truman

When the majority of people think of vegetable gardening, they instantly associate it with planting seeds in the spring and then harvesting the rewards in autumn. This does not mean, however, that gardening vegetables in the fall is not an option, too. Some plants are quite well disposed for being gardened during the fall.

Just because the weather is getting cooler doesn't mean you have pack up the gardening tools for the year. Here are some fall gardening ideas for those who want to keep the fresh veggies rolling in.

Things To Consider

Research is the essential first step when it comes to fall gardening. Learning more about the weather patterns in your local area during the fall is important, as is finding out when the average first frost is in your zone. Zones were determined be gardeners in an effort to categorize which plants can be grown in which parts of the country. Plants receive a rating based off of which zones they are best suited for.

You can easily find out what zone you live in by looking online for growing zone maps. These sites may also have suggestions for what types of plants are recommended for each zone. This will be important information for you to have as not all vegetables will grow well in every zone, especially in the fall. Some of the best vegetables for fall gardening include beets, broccoli, lettuce, carrots, cabbage, onions, and radishes among others.

Making Plans for Your Fall Garden

The timing must be right for your fall garden to turn out well. This timing includes making sure that you plant your vegetable seeds early enough for them to be able to mature before the first frost comes and ruins them. In order to calculate this properly, check the maturation time of the vegetables you are going to plant. This should appear on the seed packets you use. Then, add twenty one days to that figure. The other figure you need is you growing zone's estimated first frost date.

Then, take that number, and count back from the first frost date to determine your planting date. One problem you might run into is that some cool weather seeds will not germinate well in the hot weather of summer. In this case, start your plants inside, and then move them outside after about 30 days.

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