Fall is a Great Time to Plant Vegetables

For a gardener in much of Texas, fall is not the time between the equinox and winter. Rather fall begins when daytime temperatures drop into the 90s and before the first freeze. A gardener needs two pieces of information before starting a fall vegetable garden: the length of time to each plant’s maturity‚Äîplus a few extra days because the amount of sunlight is decreasing‚Äîand the average date of the first freeze for his gardening zone. Working backward from the freeze date tells the gardener when vegetable varieties need to be planted.

Preparing the Area for a Fall Vegetable Garden

Clean the garden of any residual debris from spring and summer and add a layer of fully decomposed organic material. Lightly amend the soil with organic or chemical fertilizer. Blood meal, fish scrap and guano provide balanced nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium with useful trace minerals.

Create rows for planting and set out walk ways between the rows for harvesting and weeding. Keeping on the garden paths decreases the soil compaction that makes it more difficult for plants to grow. Setting out transplants will save growing time for many crops. However lettuces, spinach, and other greens can be planted from either seeds or transplants.

Cold and Frost Tolerant Vegetables

Salad greens are the first group of vegetables that come to mind for the Texas fall vegetable garden. All kinds of lettuces, spinach, chard, Chinese cabbage, and regular cabbage do well. Carrots, onions, and radishes are easy and do not take a lot of space. Leaf lettuce may work better with the time available and conditions than heading lettuce. Beets, Brussels sprouts, broccoli, cauliflower, and peas can all be fall winners, but require more space than greens.

Cold Sensitive Vegetables

Tomatoes and peppers—while family favorites—are a challenge to the fall gardener. The choice is either to plant transplants in the summer heat and try to protect them until the weather cools enough for blossoms to set or to cut back the spring tomato and pepper plants, mulch them, and hope they survive until they can produce again in the fall.

Plants that have a better chance of being productive before frosts and freezing conditions are squash and beans. Cucumbers and eggplant may make it to fall production. However, if the fall garden is short on space, it may be better to stick with cold or frost tolerant vegetables.

A fall vegetable garden is a source of fresh foods and a visual treat in the face of declining colors and browning grass. One additional advantage of fall garden vegetables is that they will be sweeter than the same vegetable grown in the spring because the shorter days encourage the plants to store more sugar. To give the garden a bit of extra protection as one plays chicken with the first freeze, invest in a fiber row cover to put over the plants in late fall.

Resources

Growing a Fall Garden