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Cool
Season Veggie Gardening
Once
the last of the tomatoes have been harvested and the pepper
plants have been pulled, you once again find yourself with a
clean slate on which to work. You have two choices at this
point. To either plant a cool season garden or let your beds
rest for the season. If you choose to let your beds rest until
spring, pull out any remaining plants, give them a good raking
and cover with a good layer of compost. You may actually want to
amend the soil at this time because it is much easier to work
than soil that has been waterlogged by spring rains. In this
case, amend with a good compost and some manure, turn the soil,
rake and cover with a good layer of mulch. Your beds will be
ready to plant in the spring.
If you
choose to continue gardening (and who wouldn't in our mild
weather climate?) fall is the time to plant your cool season
veggie garden. Because your soil has been working hard all
season, the addition of some compost, manure or an organic
fertilizer will help get your plants off too a good start. If
your soil hasn't compacted much, just rake to remove debris and
you are ready to plant.
In San
Luis Obispo, our average last frost date is right around
November 22, which means we still have time to get another great
crop of lettuce. Choose from the many Botanical Interests' leaf
lettuce blends like the Lettuce Mesclun Valentine blend
for beautiful fall color. Fall is a great time to start more
root crops like carrots, beets, radishes, turnips and daikon.
(Check out our blog on
colorful cool season veggies for inspiration.) All members
of the cabbage and Swiss chard families may be planted now as
well. Here on the Central Coast, fall is the perfect time to
plant snap peas and all herbs except basil and lemon grass
(which aren't frost hardy).
The
best part about fall gardening is that it is even easier than
spring gardening. Because the soil is still warm, plants and
seeds may be planted or sown directly into the garden bed.
With cooler days and occasional rain showers, keeping your
garden watered becomes much less of a chore. It is still,
however, a good idea to apply a thick layer of mulch to help
keep down weeds and keep the soil warmer in case we get a heavy
frost.
Check
out all the veggies you can plant now |
