by Catherine Haug
I recently posted an article on planting garlic in the fall, for harvest the following summer (see Harvesting and Growing Garlic). But there are several other crops that you can plant in the early fall, either for harvest later in the fall, or in the following spring. And the use of a hoop-house can extend your fall growing season a month or more!
For more information, check out this article from Johnny’s Selected Seeds: Fall Planting. Here’s a teaser:
“Many vegetables can be sown now to mature during the next two months, when the cooler weather of autumn will improve their flavor and quality. These include beets, carrots, escarole, endive, greens, kale and collards, kohlrabi, lettuce, bunching onions, peas, radishes, spinach, Swiss chard, and turnips.”
Last fall I planted lettuce and spinach in addition to garlic, and all came up in the spring. Plus, this lettuce and spinach was hardier and more tasty than that planted in the spring, and I allowed some to go to seed so I’ll have more seeds to plant this fall.