When to Plant Veggies for Fall Harvesting

By: Deborah Greig
Farm Manager

In the heat of the Summer, when the tomatoes, eggplants, peppers and squash start spilling out of your garden and fridge, it’s actually time to start thinking about what you want to eat in the Fall! Planting certain crops now, in the middle of Summer, means that you will have promise of veggies into the Fall and early Winter.

What are good crops to plant now for Fall Harvesting?

You want to think about plants that like cooler weather when they are mature and crops that don’t need a whole five months to produce. Kale, collards, broccoli, lettuce, beets and bok choi are great choices. Fruiting crops like cucumbers and tomatoes won’t have enough days to mature and produce a crop.

Planting times should correspond to when you want to harvest. Harvesting vegetables around the time of the first frost in this area; most people use Halloween as a general guideline, even though harvest can extend well up through Thanksgiving. Check your seed packet or look online at a seed company page like Johnny’s Selected Seeds to see how many days the crops you want to grow take to mature.

Don’t worry if you forgot to start your own seeds! We’ll have plants for sale on August 11th from 2:30pm-5:30pm, at our Final Farm Stand of the season, and Saturday August 12th from 10-1pm at our Hearty Late Season Plant Sale with plants you can put in the ground now for a Fall Harvest. We’ll have salad mix, kale, cabbage, spinach, beets and more.

Here are some dates at a glance:

Sept 1-Oct 30=60 Days                                              Aug 15-Oct 30=86 Days

Aug 1-Oct 30=91 Days                                               July 15-Oct 30=117 Days