What did you do on your summer vacation?
If it wasn’t gardening, no need to sweat it — perhaps literally. You still have just enough time and some beautiful weather to plant a few crops to enjoy through the fall, depending on the weather and if you use protections such blankets or row covers when the occasional hard freeze comes your way.
Live fast, die young
The key to planting in fall is to look at vegetables’ maturity dates. The shorter their veggie lives — the number of days until plants are ready to harvest — the greater the possibility of success.
Brien Darby, manager of Urban Food Programs for Denver Botanic Gardens, says crops such as broccoli, kale and cabbage went into the ground in late August. However, the plots she manages are sowing arugula, spinach and some lettuces in September. Most of the root crops were sown in August, but there are some exceptions. She would consider a short-maturing carrot, but she adds: “It probably won’t be harvested by the end of the year. It will overwinter.”
Radishes are a good crop to sow through mid-September, Darby says.
“They are very cold tolerant.”
The radishes that she recommends for planting now are Easter Eggs, which are several different colors.
“We harvest them at about 1 or 2 inches (in diameter),” she says. “Some other very reliable radishes are French Breakfast. Cherry belles are good, too.”
Several lettuces are good candidates for fall gardening. While longer maturing romaine would not be a good idea, many spring mixes are ideal. Darby also suggests Rouge d’Hiver, a French heirloom red leaf lettuce that is fast maturing and very cold tolerant. Some small, early-maturing bibb lettuces can work. She has also had success with another leaf lettuce, Winter Density.
Spinach is great to plant now, but most of the payoff is next spring. You may get some baby spinach in the fall, but the best bet is to let it overwinter. Unless the winter is especially cold, you’ll likely start to see it in late February or early March. The same may happen with some of the lettuce you plant.
“If the seeds are germinated and it looks fairly well established, it will be fine,” Darby says. “Itap going to know exactly when conditions are right to come out.”
A head start
If you missed the “plant now” memo in August, many nurseries now carry fall vegetable starts, which allow gardeners to catch up.
“We usually have broccoli, cabbage, spinach and kale,” says Trisha Nungester of Tagawa Gardens, who works on the Centennial nursery’s annuals staff. “Most will take a frost.”
Since temperatures during the day remain warm, the plants are helped by warmth in the soil. Snow often acts as an insulator. Sometimes, though, some added protection is needed.
“If itap going to get down to 25 degrees for four hours or more, use a blanket or row cover,” Nungester says. “That raises the temperature inside. You don’t have to use anything fancy. Cardboard boxes or empty clay pots (will work).”
The Flower Bin, in Longmont, also carries vegetables for fall planting.
“We have a pretty good selection,” says Kim Jackson, annuals greenhouse manager.
That includes broccoli and cauliflower, yellow cabbage, spinach, arugula, pak choi, four different lettuces and three types of kale.
“Those are all short season varieties — even the cabbage is only a 45-day cabbage,” Jackson says. “Probably by Thanksgiving, you’ll be having cabbage.”
Greens with a side of science
One reason for planting fall greens is that they are sweeter after a frost. According to the website of Broomfield seed company Botanical Interests, thatap because the plant produces sugars when the temperature drops as a self-protective measure to prevent freezing. It works because sugar water freezes at a lower temperature than water. Since frozen cells burst and die, the plants like to keep things sweet.
Time to lift a spade now for a sweet forkful later.
Growing herbs and lettuce inside
With record temperatures in September, itap hard to believe winter is coming.
If you’re the type who misses getting your hands in the dirt during the cold months, you can grow a few herbs and veggies inside as the snow falls.
Herbs are a particularly nice reminder of warmer days, and they aren’t difficult to grow indoors. Vicky Hughes, interim manager for herbs and houseplants at the Flower Bin in Longmont, has a long list of culinary herbs that will grow inside: Chives, parsley, oregano, rosemary, thyme, sage, mint, marjoram, cilantro, dill, basil, tarragon and chamomile are the most common.
These can all grow in a sunny window, but the key word here is sunny, she says.
“Most of them need five to seven hours of direct sunlight,” she says. “If you have a south-facing window, you’re golden.”
If you don’t have enough sunlight, you can give them a boost with grow lights. Pots are best, and Hughes has some advice about how to group them.
“If you’re going to plant mint, it wants its own container,” she says.
Thatap because mint sends out lots of runners and invades its neighbors’ space. Otherwise, Hughes says itap best to combine herbs in pots according to their water needs.
“Generally speaking, things like chives, parsley, basil, chamomile (go together). They’ll need more water than rosemary, oregano thyme and sage,” she says.
Itap important to have a soil that drains well. A high quality potting soil works fine, she says. Herbs grown indoors require less water than their outside counterparts. The lower water herbs might need to be watered once a week, and the others twice a week, but they neither type should be allowed to dry out completely, so check them. In addition, these indoor herbs do not generally need fertilizer. Another nice thing, if you don’t want to start the project now: Flower Bin stocks a good selection of herbs year-round.
If you want to up your winter game a bit, consider growing some lettuces inside. You’ll need grow lights for that, says Kim Jackson, also of the Flower Bin, adding that regular fluorescents don’t work.
You can buy seeds from local nurseries or by mail order. Jackson suggests using a pot thatap 4 inches or larger, filled with potting soil.
She recommends leaf lettuces such as Simpson Elite or Black-Seed Simpson, as well as an heirloom lettuce called Red Cherokee.
“Mesclun mixes are really good as well,” she says.
