Food for All Seasons

We would love to share insights to help your Fall garden thrive! Careful garden planning and action makes a difference and helps keep fresh food on the table year round. 

First of all, determine what you would like to grow. For a visual overview check out our Planting Calendar or read on for more details!

We only really begin to reap the fruits of the Summer garden in July. By late October, Summer harvest wraps up, but the garden can still be a bounty! From October-Early Spring Fall and Winter gardens provides a whole host of diversity from fall peas, to broccoli, cabbage, roots, parsley, cilantro, brussels sprouts, radicchio and more. That is 8 months of production compared to 3 months for the Summer garden!

GREENS 

June - September

Broccoli, Brussels Sprouts, Cabbage, Collards, Kale, Lettuce, Swiss Chard, more Spinach. Cabbage should be started by mid-July for mid-August transplanting. Broccoli, brussel sprouts, collards, kale and swiss chard can be started in flats in mid-July then transplanted during a favorable cool period in August. Direct seed spinach mid-August through early September. Lettuce germinates poorly above 75 degrees, so start in pots/cells in the shade and keep moist. Other greens to consider – lambsquarters, orach and beet berry are heat tolerant. Persian Cress and Chicory/Endive can be started late June - mid August. 

HERBS

June - July

June – Late July sow dill and more cilantro for fall pickling projects. In July- August sow late summer basil that you protect in a greenhouse, cloche or with row covers.

ROOTS

June - September

Plant plenty of carrots and beets, and other roots such as parsnip, turnip, radish and burdock. We plant carrots and beets by the first week of August in SW Oregon (you have about another week for every 2 degrees latitude you go South). Please note that carrot seed is small, planted shallow and takes up to 2 weeks to sprout, so keep the seed moist with daily watering (or twice daily if soil is sandy). Using floating row covers helps to conserve moisture.

Parsnip and Burdock take longer and should be seeded June 1^st-July 1st. 

Rutabaga are a wonderful root crop best planted in August for a supply of cold hardy roots over the winter and into spring. 

Sweet Onions can be seeded in late August to be transplanted out around early October for a May/June harvest the following year.

Radish and Turnip grow more quickly and can be successfully established from a September 1st planting.

Planting Tips for Brassicas and Roots from Don

PEAS

Not many folks realize that you can grow beautiful crops of fall snap or snow peas here. Try and plant by the first week of August in an area that gets afternoon shade if possible. Bush varieties mature more quickly.

OVER-WINTERED ONIONS

September - October

We seed Siskiyou Sweet Onions around September 1^st and transplant out in mid-October around the time when we are planting garlic. In a good year, we are harvesting lovely fresh onions beginning in late May. The fresh tops are wonderful in all sorts of dishes.

GARLIC & SHALLOTS

October

Garlic is best planted in October, or before your freeze which allows the plants to develop enough roots to make the vegetative tops once the days get longer in February and March to produce large bulbs. Garlic “seed” is simply bulbs that are disease free and selected to produce healthy large bulbs. We supply a number of wonderful strains. We also carry Shallots!

Chesnok Garlic, Photo from Wild Plum Farms

FAVA BEANS

October - Early Spring

These can be planted in October and over-wintered where average low temperatures stay about 15 degrees. In areas where it gets colder in the Winter it is best to plant in February or March. Fall sown Favas can be mature in late May or June. 

COVER CROP

October - Early Spring

Growing a cover croplike our Cool Season Cover Mix  (aka Green Manure) is a wonderful way to build soil organic matter, protect the soil against erosion, fix nitrogen, provide habitat for beneficial insects & pollinators and so much more! We typically plant cool season cover crops after harvesting the last of the summer garden which is typically in October here in Oregon.  

Many blessings on your efforts and may your dance with the good green Earth be filled with joy, grace and abundance!