Fresh Vegetables from the Fall Garden

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Fall Gardening Tasks

• Plant chrysanthemums for bright fall colors in flower beds and containers.
• Divide Astilbe and Oriental poppies now; replant healthy roots with bonemeal in the hole.
• Replace summer annuals with pansies and snapdragons for fall, winter, and spring color.
• Remove faded lily flowers but leave stems until leaves yellow in fall.
• Divide and replant bearded iris if blooms were sparse or plants are over four years old; mix bone meal into soil and plant rhizomes just beneath the surface.

Fall Vegetable Planting

September is ideal for harvesting summer crops and planting fall vegetables. Cooler mornings and evenings make gardening more enjoyable.

• Plant broccoli, cabbages, cauliflower, kales, collards, spinach, Swiss chard, and Asian greens.
• Chinese cabbages: sweet, crisp, lettuce-like leaves; used in salads, sautéed, or pickled in kimchi.
• Pak choy: glossy dark green leaves with white celery-like midribs; tender and delicious cooked or stir-fried.
• Baby Bok Choy: fast-growing (3–4 weeks); tender leaves and petioles ideal for stir-fry.
• Other Asian greens:
  • Nappa cabbage (Wong Bok): cylindrical heads with mild, tender leaves.
  • Tatsoi: loose-headed with a bulbous base; produces well into winter.
  • Mizuna: feathery, dark-green leaves; decorative in salads and popular in stir-fry.
• Turnips: plant seeds up to 50 days before the first fall frost (e.g., Purple Top White Globe for greens and roots).
• Lettuce: thrives in cooler fall weather; forms nice heads in the coming weeks.
• Garlic: plant sets later in September for harvest next June.
• Onions: green onions ready in 3–4 weeks; larger varieties grow through winter for spring bulbs.
• Artichoke and rhubarb: set out plants now for vigorous growth and spring production.

By planting now, you can extend your harvest season into November.