Fall Vegetable Garden: More Healthy Produce

Keep on Planting Vegetables

Fall vegetable and herb gardens help to prolong the home garden produce season. August and September, in many northern climates, are ideal months to continue planting vegetables.
Fall vegetable crops can help to save money and provide fresh and healthy produce for eating. There is still plenty of time to plant lettuce, swiss chard, spinach and peas; cole crops like broccoli, cauliflower and cabbage do good in the cooler temperatures of fall. Root crops will also provide a good harvest, sometimes even under the snow. Red beets, turnips, kohlrabi and even carrots. If a gardener hurries, beans can planted in August will also mature before the killing frost.
Some of the herbs which can be planted in a fall vegetable garden are basil (a fast grower), cilantro, which will often reseed itself, dill, and parsley.
Keep on planting this fall. A vegetable garden is worth the time and effort.

Consumer-Home Note: Another good reason to plant Basil in the fall, besides eating, is the herb is a natural fly repellent. If started in pots, it can be grown in the house. Flies can be bad all year, but seem worse in late summer and fall. Basil is easily grown in containers as shown in photo.

Plant and Plan the Pollinator Patch

August and September are great months to move and divide perennials. Perennial seeds can also be started for next year. A pollinator garden near or in the vegetable and herb garden is a good practice. The pollinator garden will attract a lot of bees and other beneficial insects. Properly planned the pollinator garden will add a lot of vibrant colors; something relaxing to look at when pulling weeds. Okay, Morgan?

Think Garlic

Garlic is a healthy addition to any garden. It should be planted in September or October in most northern regions. Garlic is easy to grow and is not bothered by insects and other pests. And yes Vincent, garlic does keep the vampires away.

My Garlic Experiment – My garlic beds will be re-planted as soon as the garlic is harvested. This year it will be buckwheat. Buckwheat ( and thanks to BW for the seed and Christopher K. with the digging, photo) is a good cover crop which helps to prevent weeds and adds nitrogen to the soil. Hopefully, it will be mature before the snow gets here so garlic can be replanted in the beds. Backyard buckwheat could be something different and I have been reading about how to harvest it. Another fun project on the horizon.

Grange

The contest winners from the Family Activities Program were selected last week. Here are some first place winners who will advance to state finals in October. It is a long list so this will be staggered over a couple posts. From Vernon grange, Carolyn Zahora, chocolate chip muffins(sounds awful good); from Rundells Grange, Pat Roncaglione several contests in sewing and table decorations; also from Rundells Grange, Dorothy Porter for Christmas Ornaments (yike that's coming too)
Hospital Dolls – During the contest, Grange members donated twenty homemade dolls for children to be used by hospitals and ambulance services. Good work.
The Grange is a good family organization to join and membership is open to everyone regardless of location or age.

For the Heck of It
Just found this out myself. What does Zip Code stand for? Zoning Improvement Plan. Now you know.
Be nice to the dog on August 26th. It is National Dog Day.

Blogs I like to read and recommend:

Vincent di Fondi- Vincent just published his first novel, Blessed Abduction, available at Amazon and Barnes and Noble. Check his blog to learn more about the novel and his new home in Costa Rica.

On Your Way to the Top – Kathleen always has good insights

New York's Southern Tier – A travel destination in nearby New York by Richardson

Urban Veggie Blog – Dan is located in nearby Ontario and is a good gardener.

Other articles I have written for Helium can be found by clicking the title; others can be found below in the box at HubPages.

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