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Fall Garden Chores

Early August is the time to plant for a fall garden. Later In the Fall when the heavy frosts hit put garden to bed for Winter . Here’s Dave’s method of Fall Garden chores to prepare our garden for the winter and prep it for next Spring. Happy Gardening!

Fall Garden Chores

Fall Garden chores

This is our Tuesday in the Garden Blog Hop! Please make sure you click on all the  other blog Posts listed at the end of this article. There are many great suggestions, tips and ideas for fall gardening from several experienced gardeners from all over the country. 

Fall Garden Chores

The plants you see here are mostly cold hardy, like the kales and swiss chard. They will easily last into late fall and may winter over!

Our chest freezer is ready to fill to the top with our garden harvest.   Corn on the cob , homemade Marinara sauce, homemade sun dried tomatoes, whole frozen tomatoes, zucchini, blackberries, dried peppers of all sorts, frozen apples, rhubarb, homemade salsa and much more! In the meantime, Dave is stretching the garden season by planting a fall garden.

Fall Garden Chores

Dave extends the growing season into fall by replanting the garden with cool weather crops. We can eat some crops, like our peppers, and sometimes even tomatoes, from our garden until Christmas now that we have the greenhouse.

August is the time to replant for Fall crops:

Plant cool weather crops for fall, including carrots, cabbages, Swiss Chard, Parsnips, broccoli and kale and Asian greens; our old winter garden buddies. Any plant that weathers cold temperatures. When planting very late in the season, Use  cold frames to protect the young seedlings from frost as necessary. 

  • Plant fall crops in behind the harvested ones in mid to late summer.
  • Some plants, like the carrots, parsnips, leeks, and kale can be held through from summer and harvested throughout winter and early the next spring!
  • Other short crops like Asian greens can be planted in late fall. They only need 30 days to mature and love cool weather!
    2016 Summer Garden Tour

    Gorgeous Red Cabbage perfect for the fall garden.

    2016 Summer Garden Tour

    broccoli does well in a fall garden

Any crop that does well in early spring should be fine in the fall if you get them started in August.

Dave is trying to squeeze in an extra planting of purple potatoes. He just re-planted a couple of our potato barrels in them. They take 90 days to mature so it’s iffy they will be harvested before the first frost. We live in U.S.D.A. climate zone 8A. We have relatively mild winters and lots of rain. If our weather stays warm we should harvest them in time.

Purple Potato

Purple Potatoes. Nutritious and delicious!

Fall Garden Chores

As earlier crops mature and garden spots are cleared. Plant cool weather crops for fall. The bare spot you see above is planted with broccoli.

End of the Season Fall Garden Chores:

Allowing garden crops to decompose in the garden bed will spread diseases and promote unhealthy fungi in the soil.  Pests will gladly winter over in decaying vegetation. They will be hale and hardy next spring looking for garden snacks!

Fall Garden Chores Http://Homemadefoodjunkie.com

Late Fall Garden chores: Prep for the Lasagna Gardening Method

and our Winter Garden with Raised Hooped Beds.

Mulching The Garden

Dave is laying cardboard with landscape fabric and plastic over it to keep the weeds down this winter and prep the garden space for spring planting.

  • Dave is preparing for Lasagna Gardening. Click the link for more information on it.
    • Layering cardboard in layers, lasagna style, will prep the soil for spring planting and provide a weed barrier.
    • Dave is putting landscape fabric and plastic on top. The plastic will keep those weeds from getting started while the cardboard mulches the garden soil.

This method works well for us. It’s so nice in the spring to have a garden ready to plant without roto-tilling or weeding! In Spring, Dave cuts through the mulch to the soil where he wants to plant. Easy! Straw goes on the top of the plastic.

Cardboard Mulching The Lower Garden Area

Dave pulls the watering system off the lower garden area to prep the area for cardboard. He is leaving the system in place. drained, on the raised beds, however. In our mild winters this works without damage to the watering system.

Fall Garden Chores

watering system runners put up for the winter on the garden fence. Handy in spring to have them close.

Fall Garden chores in the greenhouse:

Tomato Trellis

Our tomato trellis at work

As the tomatoes slow down their growth in the greenhouse Dave has been trimming them back. The yellow spots you see on the leaves are a fungal virus. He is trying to keep it under control by constantly trimming the vines. We are plagued with fungi in the garden and greenhouse. Our humid warm summers encourage various fungi and mildew.

Arbason Tomatoes

We love the flavor of our greenhouse grown Arbason tomatoes!

Greenhouse Tomatoes, Trimmed For Fall

As you can see, he has left only the barest amount of leaf needed to support the tomato plants, as they grow fewer and fewer tomatoes.

Greenhouse Peppers

Peppers beautifully red ripe in the greenhouse! As long as he can, Dave will baby along his greenhouse peppers and tomatoes. They are slowing down for sure, but we should get another month out of them barring a very cold November. If the winter is very mild they will last into January!

Happy Gardening and Don’t Forget it’s

Tuesday in the Garden Blog Hop!

Be sure to check out the tips from these other great garden blogs!

Tuesdays In The Garden Blog Hop

An Oregon Cottage: An Oregon Cottage Tuesday In The Garden

Frugal Family Home Frugal Family Home Tuesday In The Garden

 

Simplifylivelove

Simplifylivelove Tuesday In The Garden

Angie’s Freckled Rose Angies Freckled Rose Tuesday In The Garden

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Fall Garden Chores To Put Your Garden To Bed Properly And Next Spring Off To A Good Start! Http://Homemadefoodjunkie.com

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Mary

Sunday 25th of September 2016

I really like your blog and your photos .I love to garden and I love the tips you give.

Diane

Sunday 25th of September 2016

Thank you so much, Mary! It's wonderful to hear the garden tips are useful to you. We love sharing our garden experiences. We really appreciate you leaving your feedback for us. You made our day much brighter :) Happy Gardening. Where do you garden?

Michelle Marine

Friday 5th of August 2016

I always enjoy the pictures of your beautiful garden. I've grown purple potatoes before and always enjoy them. This year, I've got some purple sweet potatoes in the ground that I'm excited to dig up!!

Diane

Friday 5th of August 2016

Hi Michelle, You have purple sweet potatoes??? I want pictures please! We can't grow sweet potatoes up here but I sure wish we could! I'm very envious!

Angie Rose

Wednesday 3rd of August 2016

I absolutely love that red cabbage! You sure do have some beautiful harvests. Purple potatoes are so yummy in soups :) Will have to try growing some next summer. The one thing I haven’t ventured into yet is building a cold frame. I'll have to make that into my next garden project! I hope to have a greenhouse like yours in my future. How nice that you can harvest all year!

Diane

Thursday 4th of August 2016

Thank you Angie!

Jami

Tuesday 2nd of August 2016

Inspiring list, Diane - I need to get some plants in so I can enjoy a few more months of our favorite foods. :) I'm also so envious of your greenhouse - do you harvest tomatoes and peppers all winter from it?

Diane

Wednesday 3rd of August 2016

Hi Jami, Last winter we had some peppers that wintered through in there. We won't heat the greenhouse again for winter gardening though. Our electric bill doubled! Expensive peppers!

Pruning and Deadheading in Summer for Fall Color

Tuesday 2nd of August 2016

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