The fall garden used to be something that only experienced backyard growers took on. Those that had a few good summers filled with ripe tomatoes and wax-free bell peppers still warm from the sun. In a throwback to the era of Victory Gardens and self-sustainability spurred by eco-consciousness however, fall gardens are rising in popularity almost as much as their summer counterparts. In fact, the word on the street is that this year even the White House will have a fall garden. And if the White House can do it, so can you. Even if you do lack gobs of more-than-qualified staff to do your dirty work.
The key to a successful fall garden is, after all, not the scorching-hot, back-breaking work that makes a summer garden thrive. It’s in choosing the right plants and, luckily for us, Mother Earth News has a wonderful ‘What to Plant Now‘ guide available online. From collards to carrots, it’s all there to make our jobs that much easier.
So, pull those tomato plants, turn in a little well-rotted compost and make like Spring. Sow!
And then, come back and tell us what crops you’re looking forward to for fall. My own garden is nourishing a small patch of fall peas and will soon be home to lettuce and spinach for salad pickings!
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Diana Prichard is a rural-living freelance writer, wife and mother of two who loves black toenail polish, taking pictures, vintage-styled aprons, dark chocolate, tomato sandwiches, lip gloss, t-shirts, flip flops, and mason jars. Her work and life can be found on her self-titled personal blog.
I am absolutely drooling over the beautiful job of canning you did. Excellent.
How I wish I could take credit for those beautiful jars, Marj. But I cannot. That picture is actually an archive photo from the Library of Congress on Flickr. Canning circa 1941-1945, wasn’t it a beautiful thing! My own garden performed rather dismally this summer, as unfortunate as that is.
Diana, a really great article. Yep! Fall gardening is the recession-proof activity. I actually don’t grow mine from seeds. I’ve found an online nursery that sends me the healthiest plants and has the best customer service! I live waaaaaaaaaay out in the country, and of course have a gas-guzzling p.u. truck that I try to drive as little as possible. So, rather than driving all over creation, I just have my plants delivered! I found GardenHarvestSupply.com through trial and error…and a LOT of error. They have made me a happy camper and they support eco-friendly gardening. Check it out!
As a Canadian living in Ottawa, how I’d love a fall garden… I think the climate is wrong but maybe next year when I’m a bit more organized I should look into my options.
[…] may have started the fall conversation almost two weeks ago, but there is something about the first of October that makes the season more […]