As promised, here is the Fall Gardening issue of the newsletter! I know. Really, it's not fall yet. But now is the time to plan for the garden, to maximize your limited garden space and ensure a tasty harvest for the fall and winter holidays!
Lots of people have asked me what I'm going to plant in my fall garden. I can't decide about the tomatoes. It's heretical in these parts, but I'm just not sure I want to fool with them again in the fall. But I might! I love the larger, cherry style tomatoes like Juliet.
 | | Almost forgot! Must make room for dill! |
When the weather cools off, we really like to eat greens of all sorts, so I'll probably plant mustards, chards, arugulas and lettuces. It's odd that we really love to eat salads in the summer, but our salad greens grow so much better when it's cool! Carrots are out for me. I never thin them enough so I end up with little stubby carrots that look like big toes. But last year's kohlrabi was delicious so I'm planning a spot or two for that.
I'm planning a series of articles on specific vegetable families for the fall garden. You'll see the recap in the next newsletter but if you want to keep up with them as they are published, subscribe to the Papershell website. You'll find a "Subscribe to Everything" button midway down the page on the right side. First up will be the Cole family: cabbages, broccoli, cauliflowers and the like.
Thanks again and garden on!
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Plant Fall Tomatoes Now!
By now, if you're a seed-starter, you should already have your tomato seedlings almost ready to move out to the garden. Timing is critical when growing tomatoes. They've got to be flowering when temperatures are right for pollination and fruit development. For fall, your target is late September. By then, generally our temperatures have moderated enough for fruit set to occur. Sometimes it's still hot, but your plants should be big enough and strong enough to produce a big harvest before an early freeze or frost (usually early to mid December).
 | | Goal: Flowering plants by mid-September |
The local nurseries have got tomato plants in stock now, for the most part, and now is the time to plant them! You have from now until mid-August to get young plants established. Just as spring tomatoes require protection from frost, fall tomatoes require protection from heat.
Read more about selecting and growing tomatoes in the fall:
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First Up: Warm Season Part 2
It seems counterintuitive, but the first plants that go into the fall garden are the same ones you planted late last spring. After the brutal heat of July and August are over, our warm fall weather is perfect for growing warm-season vegetables like beans, cucumbers and squash.  | | Eight-Ball Zucchini |
Read more about planning and planting the fall warm-season vegetables here: |
Transitioning to Cooler Weather
After mid-September, we can usually rely on our daytime temperatures to stay below 85°. That means our cool season crops can thrive. But most of us still have warm-season veggies in the garden. Where are you going to plant the cool season crops?
 | | Click the link for downloadable plan |
I've designed a sample vegetable garden layout for you that demonstrates how to replace warm-season crops with cool season ones. Read more here:
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Thanks for reading,
Elizabeth Barrow
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