It’s Time to Start Your Autumn Garden

My first summer tomato is still a few weeks away and it feels like I’ve just harvested all my tender summer sprouts and seeds, but I know better: I can’t put the seed trays away because fall and winter planting is right around the corner, and I need to think about them now.

When is it time to switch from summer to autumn crops?

When planting for the summer, you want to at least think about where you will place your fall crops because they often need to be harvested long before the end of summer. Brussels sprouts, for example, are planted in June and grow along with other plants. Onions are another example of long crops that take a long time to mature. Pasternak needs to come in now to have time to ripen.

Then there are your short summer crops. We have trouble releasing tomatoes and eggplants, but at some point your radishes and peas will be mostly used up and you can turn them into fall planting spots. Also consider that if the crop is not growing well, instead of spending a lot of time trying to save it and risking neighboring plants, you can use this space for fall planting. It will soften the blow if you can win back some of your garden.

The main crops for growing in the fall

My only goal in winter is to always be able to buy carrots, onions and celery outside. These three vegetables form the basis of most of my winter soups, stews, and stir-fries, and being able to forage them yourself is a blessing.

Carrots are a short growing crop, meaning they don’t take much time, but in the fall, when they get less sun, they take longer to grow. Luckily, carrots do well in the ground, especially if you’re buying carrots to store . It also explains why giant, gnarled carrots are sold at farmers’ markets in November and adorable, colorful little carrots in summer.

Celery can be perennial in the right climate, so be sure to plant it in the ground this summer. But if it looks like it’s starting to wilt into flowers, pluck it out and repot it before fall, when it’s better in cooler weather. You can also let some of the seeds go to seeds if they run – some of the seeds you don’t collect will fall off and hopefully form new celery next year.

Onions should be planted now, either from seeds or bulbs you can purchase at a garden store, but re-seeding green onions every other week will ensure you have plenty to do this fall. And if you want leeks, now is the time to plant these seeds in the ground – these are long harvests, so you are growing them for next spring.

Anything else you can grow in the fall

As my summer crops go into seed, I prefer to replace them with well established fall plantings rather than trying to grow new crops from seed. I’m trying to get a few different varieties of broccoli, including various bolt-tolerant compact green broccoli , as well as varieties that sprout. I especially like the purple re-sprout – this means you can only pick a head of broccoli and it will keep producing smaller and smaller branches that you can keep picking. Growing different varieties means they will likely be ready at different times, so you won’t end up with broccolimagedon.

Grow a variety of cauliflowers: white , purple , cheddar (the pale orange variety you see in grocery stores), as well as romanesco , a dramatic, pixelated variety of cauliflower similar to chartreuse.

This is when it makes sense to plant cabbage throughout the garden; it’s one of the most cold-tolerant plants, so think of all its varieties: savoy , which I appreciate for adding to soups and for wrapping stuffing and pastries. Napa , which means I can easily make stir-fry and wonton soup all fall (and it’s now available in green and purple). Purple cabbage , which I stew for a side dish that my friends admire, and green cabbage , which I like to shred in winter for salads and salads. If you have trouble growing round cabbages, look for varieties such as filderkraut , which are spiky cabbages available in green and purple varieties; I think they are more fortunate.

Obviously, it’s time to think about greens like kale, chard, spinach, collard greens, bok choy , and mustard greens . They will be hardy throughout the winter. There are also cold hardy lettuces , especially in the romaine family, and are worth considering in the fall.

Fall is your last chance for herbs, as most of them can’t stand the winter. Make a final planting of parsley, dill and cilantro to enjoy these late stage tomatoes and tomatoes.

In autumn and winter, we switch to a large number of root crops, so you can plant a lot of turnips, beets, swedes and kohlrabi. I know these are not the most popular vegetables, but I assure you they are worth considering. Small white Japanese turnips are short and delicious, and swedes add some variety to your fall and winter meals – they’re an alternative to mashed potatoes or cauliflower puree, and they’re also good as a roasted root vegetable.

Leave room for garlic and shallots

In most places in the US, garlic is harvested right now because it is planted in the fall. Because of this strange timing—planting in the fall and harvesting only in the middle of summer—garlic practically requires its own space. You can turn it over for a very short harvest from July to October, which is what I do with corn. The trick is to remember to leave room so you can re-plant the garlic when it hits the garden supply store.

Fall and winter crops that can be used as cover crops

To give your beds a break and enrich them for next year, you can cover them with crops instead of trying to harvest. This means you sow the seeds right away and then, just before they bear fruit, you grind them into the ground and let the roots compost, which nourishes the soil.

The most popular options are field peas and horse beans , but also look out for radishes (a type of daikon) which will penetrate your soil, breaking it up so your plants have looser, healthier soil to grow next year.

Where to buy autumn vegetables

You can always plant your own seeds from seeds, which can save you some money and allow you to choose exactly what you want to grow. But on some crops, you may have time to plant them in the ground right now.

Your garden center, and maybe even your grocery store, should have the start of fall and winter for you too. They will definitely have cover crop seeds by the pound and can suggest good local options to help solve problems in your garden.