While we may still be in the throws of summer, enjoying the long days of sunshine and the fruits and flowers they bring, fall is quickly approaching, so it is time to start planning for fall planting in our garden.
“Fall planting you say?” Yes!
Often times people think that mid-summer is too late to start a garden, but what if I told you that some of your favorite crops haven’t even had their chance to shine in the garden yet!
So today, I thought I would walk you through how I plan and begin to plant my fall (and early spring!) garden, in case you want to give a go yourself!
FIRST THINGS FIRST, WHEN’S FROST?
Before we start selecting our fall crops, we need to determine when our first frost is. The best way to do this is to chart the movement of the constellations…or google “[insert your zip code here] first frost date.” I prefer the latter.
Next you need to determine how many days you have between now and then. For me, I have approximately 95 days until my first frost. I can then use this information to choose my plants wisely.
PICKING YOUR PLANTS
Now that I know I have about 95 days left in my growing season, I can go to my annual seed packets and start looking for a very important tid-bit of info: Days to Maturity.
However, since the days are gradually getting shorter, and cooler, plants can take up to an additional two weeks to reach maturity - a phenomenon called the “Fall Factor.”
So if a plant needs more than 80 days to get established, sadly, it will have to wait until next year...unless it likes frosty temperatures, like Brussel sprouts and celery!
Here are some things I am planting in my fall garden. Some of my picks, like cilantro, celery, and cabbage, I will hold off sowing until the weather cools down a bit so they don’t immediately bolt when they are planted out.
During the summer, the earth is the most outwardly active. This is apparent in the verdant and vibrant life that is bursting out in every corner of nature during these smoldering days. In the fall, that energy begins to retreat back into the earth, sequestering energy that will be needed in the dark days of winter.
Because of this downward movement of energy, and the more temperate weather that accompanies it, fall is also a great time to plant perennials. The descending force strengthens the root forces of your plants, which will allow them to spend their first days in your garden sending their roots down, allowing them to get well established prior to sending fresh growth out in the spring.
This is also a good time to plant hardy annual flowers if you live in zone 5 and above. These guys are the powerhouses of the spring garden, think Larkspur, Poppies, Delphinium, and more. They don’t mind the cold, and actually prefer to get established in cooler temps.
You will want to plant these out 6-8 weeks prior to your first frost. Many of them do well being direct seeded, or you can start them indoors 6-8 weeks prior to transplanting them out! Here is a great resource if you want to learn more about this kind of flower.
STARTING YOUR SEEDS
If you are now excited to get planting, but don’t know how to start your seeds, fear not! I wrote a whole blog post about seed starting.
While I cover quite a bit in that post, one thing I don’t mention is how you can figure out how many seeds you need to start for your garden. While it may be tempting to just start seeds whilly-nilly (and often times I do), it is good to know how much space you are dedicating to your new crops so you don’t waste seeds or soil on plants you won’t have space for. So to calculate how many plants I should start, I use a handy-dandy formula. Here is an example of it with onions!
That’s all the planning and planting I am doing at the moment! Once I get out in the garden to turn the beds over for fall, I will share a post all about bed prep!
If you want to come see our farm & savor the flavor of summer produce, we are thrilled to be able to invite you to the unveiling of our gathering space, the Shed at Patina Meadow, on August 8th! I look forward to celebrating this season's abundance with you all!
If you have any questions about fall planting, or anything garden related, please let me know in the comments!
I would be happy to help :)
Love,
Leila
Lovely, informative post. I am definitely looking forward to cooler days. Lelia, what variety of sunflowers do you grow?