Extending the Fall Harvest in Affordable Ways
The end of summer should not and does not mean the end of your vegetable garden’s harvest. As we’ve mentioned previously there are plenty of crops that thrive during the cooler conditions of fall. Kale and cabbage flourish this time of year, as do quick-turn crops like radishes and lettuces and many others. Fall really has become its own productive growing season.
But the fall vegetable gardening season doesn’t have to be a short one. You can extend the life of your crops and harvest beyond the inevitable chilly weather with a few simple and affordable techniques. Some of the techniques will even set you up for an even earlier start to gardening in spring. No pricey greenhouse needed.
Row Covers
One of the easiest and most cost-effective ways to extend your harvest is by using lightweight row covers, also known as frost blankets. These are breathable fabric sheets that you drape over your crops when temperatures are forecast to produce a frost. Placed overtop your garden rows, the fabric traps in warmth radiating outward from the ground, keeping your plants cozy as the air above the blanket becomes chilly.
These row covers won’t protect your crops deep into winter, but they will come in handy when your local meteorologist predicts a night of light frost for your area. Remove them during the day to allow the ground to warm up and retain heat and for the plants to be exposed to the sun. Don’t expect row covers to extend the life of heat-loving crops such as tomatoes and peppers for long, but they will keep your cold-hardy varieties of fresh greens, lettuce, spinach, and Swiss chard going strong until cold settles in for good. Find them at your local hardware and garden stores.
Cold Frames
Cold frames take row covers up a notch, giving the concept of frost protection a bit more structure. They are essentially low, clear boxes that trap sunlight, warming the space underneath.
These can be a very DIY experience if you have the materials laying around. For instance, create a frame from 12-in. high boards or bales of hay around your fall crops and place old windows over top. Or for smaller areas, use clear plastic storage bins turned upside down over your growing patch.
You can also purchase or create your own low plastic-covered tunnels over your crops. These low tunnels are like mini greenhouses, warming a greater volume of air than a row cover and allowing more space for your kale and other leafy greens to grow. Try growing root veggies like carrots and parsnips in there, too—crisp, freshly harvested carrots in February? Yes, please!
Mulch
A super-thick layer (4-in. or more) of mulch can protect your root crops such as carrots, parsnips, beets and some alliums such as leeks and onions. This thick layer insulates the soil and helps prevent the cycles of freezing and thawing that can damage or kill root crops. Use a thick layer of straw, shredded leaves, or our Planting Mix Compost Blend as your mulch. And with fall right around the corner, you’ll have plenty of free leaves at your disposal.
Containers
Growing in moveable containers might seem counterintuitive but hear us out. Yes, plants grown above ground are subject to cold air temperatures more so than those nestled into garden soil. However, you can move your containers out of the chill and into a protected area like a basement, garage or shed. Small-space gardeners who have been growing in containers all summer can continue their crops for a few weeks more by moving their gardens indoors. You can also plant containers with cool-season crops such as kale, Swiss chard, radishes, lettuces and herbs and move them inside and out depending on the weather. Place containers like this in direct light by a sunny window, or consider a grow light to keep things going all winter!
Plant Now for Spring Harvests
As alluded to above in the discussion about mulch, it’s possible to hold some of your crops over until early spring if protected sufficiently. Root crops such as carrots and parsnips can be kept cozy under mulch or in a cold frame to wait out winter’s worst. In fact, they may even taste sweeter after experiencing some cold temps.
Similarly, spinach sown in fall can survive under row covers or cold frames, giving you a leafy green jumpstart as soon as the days lengthen again. And don’t forget about planting garlic this fall, too—it’s the ultimate “set it and forget it” fall crop with a big late-spring payoff!
Add a Dose of Fertilizer
Something that many gardeners don’t think about is adding a bit of fertilizer to your beds this fall to benefit next spring’s garden. As organic fertilizers and compost break down over the winter, it enriches the soil and prepares it for early planting. The soil’s microbiome needs some nutrition and care over the long winter, after all.
And we have just the fertilizer for fall, too. Show your plants and your micro-creatures some love and attention with Organic Mechanics Insect Frass Fertilizer. Frass is a nutrient-rich organic material that consists of insect excrement. At a Nitrogen-Phosphorus-Potassium ratio of 3-2-2, “it’s not too much NPK, just right for those fall veggies,” Organic Mechanics founder Mark Highland says. Just sprinkle it around your plants and water in, make it into a liquid foliar spray, or add it into your own compost tea.
As you can see, there’s no need to lament the coming cool weather. Your new toolbox of techniques to stretch both the gardening season and your dollars has just enabled you to enjoy garden-fresh food through Thanksgiving—and perhaps beyond!
