15 Things To Plant Now For Your Fall Vegetable Garden

Most people tend to think of fall as the end of the gardening season: It's when you pull all the spent crops, clean up debris, and get ready to put plants to bed for the winter. But there's also an opportunity to harvest some edibles late in the season. Some pros even plan carefully enough to be able to harvest all winter long.

The key to planning a fall harvest is to get everything in the ground early enough. In most areas, that means planting in late July or early August (in warmer zones, you can start later). That gives plants enough time to grow before the days become too short. Make sure you know your average first frost date so you seed or transplant far enough in advance to see plants mature. Planting schedules will vary depending on your USDA hardiness zone. Here's what you can still plant now:

Beans

basket full of bean pods

Photo: seedsavers.Com

Beans are tender crops, but they grow and produce quickly. That means there's usually enough time to plant a second batch of these nitrogen-fixing plants before frost sets in. Stick with bush beans since they're hardier than pole and runner beans, and usually mature more quickly. A fast-growing bush bean variety is Bountiful, which matures in 45 to 50 days.

Beets

group of beets on wooden table with one beet sliced in half showing the bright red inside

Photo: johnnyseeds.Com

Beets are good raw but are more often roasted, boiled, pickled, or cooked into soup—borscht is a classic dish. Whatever way you like them, beets are a good source of magnesium and vitamin C.  A garden favorite, Red Ace beets are sweet and tender, with a beautiful pure red color, especially during cooler weather. They mature quickly and are usually ready to harvest in less than 2 months.

RELATED: How to Get Rid of Squash Bugs

Bok Choy and Other Asian Greens

bok choy in a blue bowl

Photo: rareseeds.Com

Many gardeners struggle to grow heat-sensitive plants during the summer because plants send up flower stalks and become bitter as soon as it gets too hot. When it's ultrahot, some plants— like bok choy and many Asian greens—will bolt as soon as they sprout from the ground. These quick-growing greens are better suited to cool-season growing and don't take long to mature. Varieties perfect for fall harvesting include Chijimisai (55 days), Yod Fah Chinese broccoli (55 days), and Prize Choy (50 days).

RELATED: 11 Types of Asian Greens and How to Grow Them

Broccoli

close view of large head of broccoli

Photo: johnnyseeds.Com

Most people have trouble growing broccoli because they plant it at the wrong time. As a cool-season vegetable, broccoli grows best at the tail end of the season. In fact, heads that mature in cooler weather are tastier and better in quality than those picked during the hot summer months.

Broccoli tends to mature within about 90 days, give or take, so think about your weather patterns before deciding when to plant. Consider broccoli varieties and close relatives, such as broccoli rabe, Santee purple sprouting broccoli, or De Cicco for your fall garden. Gardeners in warmer climes might consider Hybrid Gypsy broccoli, which is more heat-resistant than most other varieties and also has good resistance to downy mildew. It's a deep green, medium-sized broccoli that reaches maturity within 2 months of planting in full sun.

Cabbage

product shot of bright green barrel headed napa cabbage heads grouped together on display

Photo: burpee.Com

Plant cabbage seedlings 8 to 12 weeks before your area's expected first frost, or seeds 6 weeks before you'll move them to the garden, depending on variety. Cabbage likes rich soil with plenty of compost, and you'll want to plant your seedlings in full sun. Fertilize with a nitrogen-rich fertilizer two or three times throughout the growing season. While you'll find almost endless varieties to choose from, consider Napa cabbage, which doesn't form round heads like green or red cabbage, but instead produces upright, oblong-shaped heads covered with a few looser leaves. Barrel Head is an especially large variety of Napa cabbage with a mild flavor that turns a bit sweet when cooked.

RELATED: How to Get Rid of Cabbage Worms

Carrots

close view of top of carrot root growing from the ground with leaves springing up

Photo: istockphoto.Com

Carrots are an excellent choice for the fall garden because they're easy to grow and can withstand frosty temperatures. Plant carrots in deep, well-worked soil with plenty of compost and no pebbles, rocks, or dirt clods. Leave them in the ground when there's a freeze, and their flesh will taste even sweeter. Most varieties mature in about 70 to 90 days, but if you're cutting it close with your planting dates, opt for a dwarf carrot variety like Paris Market.

Collards

close view of round green leaves of Georgia collards growing in garden

Photo: istockphoto.Com

Whether steamed, braised, or stir-fried, collards are the perfect accompaniment to pork dishes, chicken, or hearty vegetarian recipes. Georgia collard is an heirloom variety with large, dark green leaves and a mild flavor that gets even better with frosty weather. Plant seeds in a full-sun location, and you'll be ready to harvest in a little over 2 months.

RELATED: 11 Decoy Plants Guaranteed to Trick Garden Pests

Green Onions

long green onions on a ceramic plate

Photo: rareseeds.Com

Because onions are sensitive to changes in daylight hours, it's not possible to plant them at the end of the season and harvest their bulbs in the fall. Most onions need a long growing season. But you can still plant green or bunching onions because they usually don't take much more than 60 days to mature. Varieties suited for late-season planting include Ishikura onion (40 to 50 days) and Parade (60 days).

Kale

a girl's hands tending to kale growing in soil

Photo: istockphoto.Com

These nutritious leafy veggies are hardy and easy to grow. Some varieties have been bred specifically to withstand freezing temperatures, allowing gardeners to continue harvesting during the winter. Many types mature within 60 days, but you can also harvest leaves in their baby form. Cold-hardy kales include Siberian, Westlander, and White Russian. Like carrots, kale gets sweeter after a freeze.

If you find kale too bitter or chewy, Red Russian kale is the variety for you. This heirloom kale is much more tender than most other varieties and not so bitter, and it becomes even sweeter with exposure to frost. These are large, attractive plants, with dark green leaves dappled in purple.

Lettuce

mixed green and purple lettuce in a crate

Photo: johnnyseeds.Com

Another vegetable that isn't a fan of the heat is lettuce. Seeds and plants tend to do better in cool conditions. But by picking the right varieties, you might be able to enjoy lettuce far past the end of fall, with the help of some protection like row covers or cold frames. Cold-hardy lettuce varieties include Rouge d'Hiver (60 days), Winter Density (55 days), and Merveille des Quatre Saisons (48 days). For a little variety in your leafy greens, consider a blend. With the Five Star Greenhouse Lettuce Mix, you get a healthy, tasty, and beautiful mixture of five types of lettuce: green oakleaf, red oakleaf, red romaine, green leaf, and red leaf, all chosen with mildew-resistance in mind. Plant lettuce seeds in a sunny spot, and you'll be enjoying your homegrown salad in less than a month.

RELATED: Here's How Building a Cold Frame Can Extend Your Growing Season

Peas

close view of Oregon sugarpod peas growing in a garden

Photo: istockphoto.Com

Peas are typically an early spring crop, but adventurous gardeners might be able to get an autumn harvest in. It's a bit of a gamble planting peas in the fall, as an unexpected heatwave can wipe out your crop, but it might be worth taking the risk to plant this heirloom variety, Oregon Sugar Pod II. The large, sweet pea pods are delicious right off the vine, or you can steam them as a side dish or toss them into a stir-fry. You can even freeze them for later use. Support the 28-inch vines with a stake or trellis. Plant in full sun and expect a harvest in two-and-a-half months.

Radishes

close view of a group of colorful red and pink radishes

Photo: johnnyseeds.Com

These pungent veggies are one of the fastest-growing edibles in the vegetable garden. Most varieties take less than a month to mature. If the timing is right, you might even get to harvest them twice. Plum Purple is a hardy variety that responds well to changing weather. Pink Lady Slipper radishes are another great choice for the fall garden because they stay fresh for weeks in storage. Or try Easter Egg II, which provides a mixture of red, purple, and white mild-flavored radishes that remain crisp longer than many other radish varieties.

Summer Squash

close view of yellow zucchini growing in a garden

Photo: istockphoto.Com

Fall squash is what people usually harvest when the leaves are changing colors, but it takes a long time to grow hard-skinned squashes like butternut or acorn, so they must be started in spring or early summer. Summer squash, on the other hand, matures impressively fast. If you had a successful summer crop, you may be able to plant again in late summer/early fall to get a second harvest before temperatures drop. Squash doesn't like frost, so plant ASAP to ensure fruits can form and mature before the first frost date.

RELATED: How to Grow Squash

Swiss Chard

close view of dark red swiss chard leaves growing in a garden

Photo: istockphoto.Com

Swiss chard isn't as hardy as kale, but it's still a solid pick for late summer planting because it can tolerate light frost. Most varieties require 50 to 60 days to mature, but even if you don't plant early enough, you may be able to harvest slightly smaller leaves at the end of the season. For a colorful fall display in the garden, plant Five Color Silverbeet Swiss chard. Also tryBright Lights Swiss chard, which features deep green, crinkled leaves, and lights up the garden with its bright gold, pink, red, orange, and purple stems. Whichever you choose, you can use Swiss chard in the same way you use spinach: Eat it raw in salads, steam it as a side dish, sauté it in a bit of olive oil, or cook it in soups.

Turnips

group of white silky sweet turnips on wooden table

Photo: istockphoto.Com

The perfect turnip for snacking, hybrid Silky Sweet is large, crispy, and bursting with sweet deliciousness. Of course, you can roast, bake, boil, or steam this cruciferous vegetable, and you can also cook the leafy green tops, which are similar to mustard greens. However you prepare it, this will surely become one of your favorite root vegetables. Plant the seeds outdoors in a sunny spot, wait approximately 2 months, and your turnips will be ready to harvest.

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What Is A Permaculture Garden? Plus 12 Tips For Planting Your Own

Learn how to choose the best plants and techniques to create a resilient and sustainable permaculture garden.

Precisely what is a permaculture garden, and how can you include the principles of permaculture in your own landscape? Permaculture is a concept that has been reshaping how we think about gardening and landscape design since it was first developed in the 1970s. Based on the principles of sustainability and working in alignment with the natural world, permaculture's influence can be seen in the burgeoning interest in composting, companion planting, and techniques such as no-till gardening.

This beginner-friendly guide to permaculture gardening includes design tips and planting suggestions. You may be surprised to find that you already have elements of permaculture in your garden and can easily add a few more.

What Is Permaculture?

A portmanteau of the words "permanent" and "agriculture," permaculture is a design philosophy and practice that focuses on sustainability and working in harmony with the ecosystem. The idea is to create diverse, productive landscapes and agricultural systems that are as resilient as natural ones.

Benefits of Permaculture Gardening

Conventional gardening utilizes synthetic pesticides, fertilizers, and other soil additives that provide a "quick fix" for plants. However, these methods are rarely sustainable and can deplete soils over time. Permaculture gardening helps build soils and doesn't rely on synthetic inputs, making it more sustainable. Plus, it offers several other benefits:

Long-lasting. A permaculture garden can remain productive for generations with minimal human interference.

Lower maintenance. Keeping a permaculture garden can simplify your gardening maintenance regimen.

Budget-friendly: You save some money because you don't need to replace crops each year, and you can forgo many of the products annual plants require.

Supports pollinators. Permaculture gardens are safe havens for pollinators.

12 Tips for Designing a Permaculture Garden

Permaculture is guided by 12 simple design principles, which are easy to incorporate into ornamental and vegetable gardens. While your garden doesn't need to include all these components, adding as many permaculture elements as possible will help you build a regenerative garden that mimics natural ecosystems and works with nature rather than against it.

The 12 principles of permaculture and real-world examples of how to employ them in your garden space will help you create a biodiverse and resilient landscape. Incorporate a few of these tips into your garden every year, and you'll create a functioning permaculture garden that's eco-friendly and perfectly suited to your gardening needs.

1. Observe and interact.

The first principle of permaculture is also the easiest to implement: use a garden journal. Garden journals can help you keep track of how your garden changes throughout the year, and they're also a great place to jot down notes on which plants grow well in your garden, what pests emerge, and how the sun moves across your landscape. Knowing these details helps you be more strategic with your planting design and the plants you choose to grow.

2. Catch and store energy.

Permaculture emphasizes using what you already have in your landscape, so don't be shy when it comes to using your natural resources. Composting yard debris or mulching autumn leaves and turning them into a weed-suppressing mulch are two easy ways to capture the resources in your garden so they can work for you.

Related: Here's Why You Shouldn't Toss The Fallen Leaves in Your Yard

3. Obtain a yield.

Permaculture gardens should offer benefits to both you and the larger ecosystem. So, before you start planting anything, pinpoint what you want to get out of your garden. You can grow a permaculture garden for vegetables, fruit, or flowers, or you can keep a garden for pollinators or simply for enjoyment—it's up to you.

4. Use self-regulation and feedback.

Gardens don't exist in a vacuum. The choices you make in a single garden bed can affect your garden as a whole and may also affect the environment around you. Choosing organic gardening methods, for instance, limits harm to pollinators and reduces potential fertilizer and pesticide runoff. Opting for organic pest control options, such as floating row covers, crop rotation, and companion planting, are all excellent ways to reduce your impact and make your garden more sustainable.

5. Use more renewable resources.

Using renewable resources is an essential part of being an eco-conscious consumer, but it's also critical in permaculture gardens. It's easier to incorporate renewal resources in your gardening practices than you might think. Composting autumn leaves or using rainwater to water your plants are two great ways to use renewable resources. If you want to take it one step further, consider attaching a drip line system to a gravity rain barrel so you won't need to rely on your garden hose as much.

Related: The Best Rain Barrels to Harvest Rainwater at Home

6. Produce no waste.

Garden waste can be a hassle, but it can be easily repurposed with composting. Both hot and cold composting methods can transform leaves, weeds, and fallen branches into a nutrient-rich soil additive that will feed your plants and improve the structure of the garden soil. If you make compost at home, you can save a lot of money, too.

7. Design from patterns to details.

When building a permaculture garden, consider how you like to use your space. Are there specific paths you like to walk or areas where you like to sit? Working these elements into your garden design personalizes your garden experience. If you install garden walkways, you can limit soil compaction, a key component of weed-less gardening.

8. Integrate, don't segregate.

The natural world is diverse, with plants of different species and heights growing together in wildflower fields and toward the margins of woodlands. You can use nature as inspiration by growing plants of different heights, textures, and colors together. You can further refine your permaculture design by combining different gardening techniques, such as inground gardens, raised beds, and container gardens.

9. Use small and slow solutions.

Rome wasn't built in a day, and neither was your garden! Finding the right plants for your garden takes some trial and error, and building rich and healthy soil takes time, too. If you want to improve your soil over time, opt for no-till gardening methods or experiment with lasagna gardening and hugelkultur.

10. Use and value diversity.

Including an assortment of different flowers, herbs, and vegetables in your landscape helps you determine which plants grow best in your garden. Beyond that, including native plants and flowering companion plants in your vegetable beds will attract pollinators and beneficial insects that can increase pollination rates, control garden pests naturally, and increase harvest yields.

11. Use edges and value the marginal.

There's no wasted space in a permaculture garden, so get creative if you have an underutilized corner of your backyard or an empty spot on your patio. You can always squeeze a compost bin or a small beehive in an out-of-the-way place to get more use out of your garden. Installing trellising can also make a more complex garden landscape, and by growing vertically, you can fit more plants into your permaculture garden.

Related: The 12 Best Trellises of 2023 for a More Successful (and Prettier) Garden

12. Creatively use and respond to change.

Nature is constantly changing, and a well-functioning garden needs to adapt to those changes. If you notice that certain plants don't grow well in your soil, don't be afraid to swap them out for plants that are better suited to your growing conditions. There's a lot of trial and error with permaculture gardening, but that gives you more opportunities to fine-tune your gardening style and designs.

Best Plants for Permaculture Gardens

If you're primarily interested in growing ornamentals, native plants are generally the best choices for permaculture gardens because they are well-adapted to your local growing region and climate patterns. Native plants are also easier for pollinators to recognize and often require less supplemental fertilizer and water than non-native species.

However, if you're more interested in growing edibles, experimenting with different crops will help you determine which plants grow best in your space. Don't forget to keep track in your garden journal of the plants that grow well, so you'll know what to plant next year.

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Read the original article on Better Homes & Gardens.

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Tasks For The September Garden: Take Stock Of Summer Successes And Plan For Fall Planting

After August's surprise tropical storm, I'm curious to see how our plants and gardens respond to rain in the heat of summer. This time of year, we often lose California native plants — along with drought-tolerant trees and shrubs from South Africa and Australia — to deadly root fungi that thrive in warm, wet soils. That's why I always discourage people from watering established plants in the summer.

So what happens when Mother Nature provides the rain?

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Prepare for fall

As the long days of summer wane, it's time to think about fall planting. The most important thing to do is plan before you plant. Here are some tips:

• Do a garden walk-through. Look for space to be filled.

• Measure empty spaces, both width and height. Look for plants that grow to those dimensions, no larger. If you choose plants that grow too large for the spot, you'll be pruning forever.

• Match new plants to each bed's existing irrigation schedule. Don't plant thirsty plants in dry beds and vice versa.

• Add plants that flower or fruit or are otherwise interesting in a different season than the existing plants.

• Make a list of your goals for planting: extending the bloom season, attracting pollinators, adding texture, screening out views, etc.

• For more information on how to prepare for fall planting, check out my webinar "Dig Deep: Plan for Fall Planting Success" at waterwisegardener.Com.

Update irrigation

• Plants, both ornamental and edible, are best irrigated with inline drip irrigation. Inline drip looks like long hoses with holes. Inside, each hole connects to very sophisticated emitters that release water one drop at a time. This is the most efficient irrigation and the best way to get water to plant roots, which is the goal of all irrigation. Inline drip releases water very slowly so has to run a long time — 30, 60, 90 minutes or more — depending on your soil and how long it takes for water to penetrate to plant roots.

• Keep the soil in vegetable beds damp (not wet) at all times. Depending on where you live, vegetable beds may need watering two or three times a week.

• Let the soil in ornamental garden beds dry out between waterings. Water these beds no more than once a week. For mature drought-tolerant plants, natives and succulents, water just once every few weeks or even once a month. Always water deeply.

• Figure out how often to water by using the canary test. Find it at tinyurl.Com/2p8bf7e6.

• Mulch all beds with at least three inches of mulch. Match the mulch to the type of plant: straw mulch for vegetables; stone or rock mulch for cactuses and other succulents; wood-based mulch (not bark chunks) for all other plants.

• No matter the irrigation method, always do it until the water penetrates all the way to the roots. After the irrigation runs, test how deep the water has gone by digging into the soil, using a soil probe or sticking your finger as deep as it will go. Is it wet all the way down? If not, water again.

Vegetable gardens

Tomatoes are nearing the end of their life span in September. Dehydrate surplus to make tomato "raisins."

(stock.Adobe.Com)

• Spring vegetable plants such as tomatoes, cucumbers, etc., are nearing the end of their life span. Remove each plant as production wanes. Healthy plants go into compost. Diseased plants (with powdery mildew, root knot nematode, etc.) go into green waste, unless you plan to hot-compost them.

• Take notes on how each vegetable variety performed. Which varieties were so good that you'll plant them again? Which disappointed? Keep track.

• Draw your garden. Note where you planted tomato, pepper, tomatillo, eggplant and potato. Move them all to beds that grew cucumbers, melons or basil, okra or other plants this year. Crop rotation is critical for plant health.

• Pick ripe fruits and vegetables to eat, preserve and keep scavengers from eating them before you can.

• Dehydrate surplus tomatoes to make tomato "raisins." Find directions at bit.Ly/2EcmBHR.

• Did your tomatoes split after the August rain? Toss them and wait for the next crop. Take care not to overwater.

• Feed melons and pumpkin plants. Remove ones that have soft spots or insect damage.

• Set melons, winter squash and pumpkins on a bed of straw or an upside-down container to keep them off the soil. If they grow on a trellis, support them with a sling made of old stockings or a COVID-19 mask.

• Harvest pumpkins, melons and winter squash when the stems turn brown and start to pull away from the fruits, the undersides yellow a bit and they sound hollow when slapped.

• Let peppers turn red, yellow, orange or purple before harvesting. They taste better and are easier to digest once they are fully ripe. They are prettier, too!

• Late in September, start seeds for fall veggies such as cabbage, spinach, lettuce, cauliflower, etc. The seedlings will be ready to plant when the weather cools in October.

• Buy seeds for cover crops to plant in October. Choose seeds based on your garden's needs: Some cover crops add nitrogen, others loosen compacted soil, some add organic matter, etc.

Late September is the time to start seeds for fall vegetables like cauliflower.

(stock.Adobe.Com)

Fruit trees

• Pick figs only when they are fully soft and ripe. Unlike other fruits, figs stop ripening the moment they are picked.

• Protect figs and other soft fruits from green fig-eater beetles by covering them with nylon mesh drawstring bags. Since the bags are see-through, they are easy to monitor as they ripen.

• Shorten the new growth on peach, plum, apple and other deciduous fruit trees now (you'll prune again for fruiting and shaping in winter). Shortening branches keeps future fruits within reach. To see how, go to bit.Ly/2CNUGNO.

• Pineapple guavas ripen and "self-harvest" in September. Wait for the oval green fruits to drop onto the ground. Gather them, cut them open and enjoy their sweet, cream-colored flesh.

• Fertilize citrus and avocado. Use organic fertilizers and follow label directions. Pull back mulch, apply the fertilizer and water it in. Replace the mulch.

Houseplants

• Thrips on your houseplants? Scale? Mealy bugs? Put the plants outside in a shaded spot for fresh air and rejuvenation. The pests' natural predators will eat them. Leave the plants outside until October.

• If your houseplants are infested with tiny flying gnats, reduce watering. Cover potting soil in an inch-thick layer of small round pebbles or marbles or other inert material. The pebbles block gnats so they can't lay their eggs in wet potting mix. They will soon disappear.

Ornamental plants

• Collapsing agave is usually caused by the agave snout weevil. The female weevil chews into the base of the plant to lay her eggs in the spring. When the eggs hatch, the larvae — which are grubs — feed on the core of the plant, leaving it vulnerable to rot from the inside out. Once you notice the damage, it's too late. Dig up and seal infected plants, stems, leaves, etc., in a plastic bag and place in the trash, not the green waste.

• There's a little time left to solarize grass and weeds. The sun must be high in the sky to superheat the soil to "cook" plants, weeds and seeds in the upper layer. This simple process involves clear (not black) plastic and takes six to eight weeks in the hottest months of the year. Beneficial soil microbes die in the process, so mulch afterward to re-establish their populations. For directions, go to bit.Ly/3giAdy1.

• Clean up dried-out foliage, dead branches and other dead plant parts, both for aesthetics but, more importantly, for fire safety. Dead, dry leaves, grasses and branches are more flammable than living plants.

• Wash dusty leaves using a sharp spray of water to clean them and blast away pests. Spray leaves top and bottom, stems, branches, etc.

• If your plants look a little droopy at the end of the day, don't water. In heat, some plants lose water to the air faster than their roots can take it up from the soil. Overnight, the roots catch up and the leaves get perky again. However, if leaves are still droopy in the morning, it's time to water.

• Plant spring-flowering South African bulbs such as Ixia, Watsonia, Gladiolus and Ferraria.

Deal with pests

Preventing areas of standing water can help keep Aedes mosquitoes away.

(Getty Images)

• Aedes mosquitoes are aggressive little daytime biters that relish mammal legs and ankles. They lay their eggs in standing water (as little as a quarter-inch deep) both indoors and out, so be vigilant about emptying water dishes, screening rain barrels and running fountains to prevent standing water. Add mosquito fish to ponds. Fix torn window screens to keep mosquitoes out of your house and be vigilant about wearing insect repellent when you head outside.

• Floppy fronds on Canary Island palm trees are a sure sign of the deadly, invasive South American palm weevil. Once the damage shows, the palm is doomed. Have it removed by a professional arborist who knows how to dispose of infected palms without spreading weevils to other palms. Report infested palms to the UC Riverside Center for Invasive Species Research at cisr.Ucr.Edu/invasive-species/palmarum-survey.

• Check for masses of tiny, disorganized webs on leaves and stems of trees and shrubs. Those webs are made by spider mites. Wash them away with a sharp spray of water.

• Citrus scale and aphids appear when ants "farm" the critters, placing them on citrus stems and branches. They require a two-pronged approach to control the ants and wash away the scale and aphids. Use a boric acid-based bait for the ants. Wash away aphids. Smother scale with a spray of light horticultural oil.

Nan Sterman is a garden designer, journalist and the host of "A Growing Passion" on public television. She runs Nan Sterman's Garden School at waterwisegardener.Com. ◆

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