After visiting this weeks final Wallingford Farmers Market (in a torrential downpour), I found myself overjoyed at the amazing bounty our Seattle summers produce and I also find myself thinking ahead to the fall garden plantings. While autumn in the garden is typically associated with “clean up”, it is not too late to get a few more crops in the ground to turn your kitchen garden into a near-year round harvest.
Yes, you can still plant a few more things before the darkness descends!
Greens: You may not get a lush baby lettuce harvest right now, you can transplant kale, chicory, or another hearty lettuce varietal. Consider sowing a packet of arugula seeds too. Keep the new seedings and plantings moist (not as difficult in fall as in summer) and protected from the wind and storms. The plants may not produce a lot this season but those that make it through the winter will flourish in early spring. Nothing to lose but a few bucks on plants! Nurseries are working to sell out this years’ stock, so discounts can be found.
Garlic: Garlic is one of the best “set it and forget it” crops you find. Planted out around Halloween and harvested around the Fourth of July, it stays in the garden for a long time, but if you have the space you will not be disappointed. Make sure to purchase seed garlic as the heads from the store may be treated to avoid sprouting. If you don’t want to tie up a whole bed with the pungent plant utilize it around the edges of a bed you will plant later in the spring where it will act as a critter repellant. Since it will sprout a few inches before winter, it makes for a nicer looking vegetable bed than the barren soil. You may never have to buy garlic again!
Fava Beans: I originally planted fava beans as a “cover crop” to restore the soil in the fallow season, but the first year I could not resist letting them come to full production and now I am hooked! These beans are easy to plant out in the fall and will grow into stands up to 5 feet tall in late spring. The large pods are harvested for the tender beans inside and are a dining delight in Spring!
So friendly farmers, don’t fret! We are fortunate to harvest vegetables from our garden in winter as well as summer. Cool season crops can be very successful in our climate so give one of these crops a try! Get yourself Good to Grow!