How to Plant a Fall and Winter Vegetable Garden

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By Eudora deWynter
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Find out how easy it is to grow vegetables in the fall for winter consumption.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

spot for your garden
fall vegetables

Step 1

When planting a garden for a fall or winter crop, keep in mind that the cooler days of autumn often give vegetables a better flavor than those of spring and summer. Some are even able to be left in the garden until the early winter months. Your available space and your choice of what you want to plant are your key factors. Some vegetables growing in your garden now will continue to grow and produce well into the fall, vegetables such as tomatoes, sweet potatoes, peppers and okra. Cabbage, broccoli and brussel sprouts make a good fall crop.
Step 2

When planting use seeds rather than plants that need to be transplanted. After the seeds emerge and reach about a ½ inch in height, thin them out to about a foot apart in each row. If you plan on planting beets and carrots, remember they are root vegetables and the soil should be kept loose around their base to allow for room to expand and grow, otherwise you’ll have only a top and a very small bottom. Seeds will need lots of moisture until they fully emerge. After planting your seeds cover them with soil and lightly cover with sand or compost to help the soil to retain moisture and keep it from hardening
Step 3

Knowing when to plant how long will it take your plants to develop and how tolerant they are to frosts is a key factor in deciding what to plant. Potatoes and cabbage take longer periods of time to grow and mature, so mid July is a good time to start them. Other vegetables such as radishes and lettuce can be planted as late as early September.
Step 4

If your plans are to plant in the same space you used for your spring and summer garden, you may want to add some additional fertilizer to the soil to help support the new fall crop. If you think you need to fertilize, use it sparingly in the fall, heavy use can ruin your young plants.
Step 5

DO NOT ADD large quantities of organic matter to the soil when fall planting, with the cooler weather they may loosen and dry the soil out. Save the organic matter for a late fall application, because no extensive soil preparation should be needed at this time. Avoid heavy tilling also, simply lightly till and cultivate the surface soil by hand with a pitch fork or shovel to prepare your seed beds.
Step 6

To ensure good growth and plenty of vegetables, fertilize after about 2 weeks along the sides of the rows. Plants need sufficient watering to develop and thrive so adequate watering is essential to germination and growth so water well after planting and fertilizing, nothing will grow well without moisture.