As summer fades and cooler weather settles in, it’s the perfect time to plant vegetables that thrive in lower temperatures. Whether you’re a seasoned gardener or just starting out, fall offers a rewarding window to grow fresh produce right in your backyard.
Many varieties of vegetables thrive in cool temperatures, including kale, spinach, Swiss chard, winter-hardy lettuce, carrots, beets, radishes, turnips, broccoli, cauliflower, brussels sprouts, garlic, onions, and more. Currently, and locally, seeds for all of these can be found at Mountain Hardware in Wrightwood, sold in packets by Botanical Interests.
In our region, which ranges from USDA Zone 8b in Phelan to Zone 7a in Wrightwood, most cool-season crops can be planted from late September to early November, depending on elevation and variety.
To speed up germination, some gardeners recommend soaking seeds in water for 8 to 24 hours. When starting seeds in containers, remember they only need to be planted at a depth twice the width of the seed. That means it can often be very shallow for tiny seeds.
After seedlings are 4 to 6 weeks old, they can be hardened off by gradually introducing them to outdoor conditions over the course of a week. Once acclimated, they can be transplanted into garden beds.
Garden bed preparation should begin around the same time as seed starting. Amend the soil with compost or well-rotted organic matter to improve texture and nutrient content. After amending, it’s important to water deeply and solarize the bed to eliminate weed and grass seeds. This can be done by stretching a piece of plastic over the soil to trap heat for a few weeks.
Once the plastic is removed, water the bed evenly each day for a week before planting. This helps prevent transplant shock by ensuring the soil is evenly moist.
As temperatures continue to drop, be prepared to protect young plants with frost cloth or row covers if an early frost is expected, especially in higher elevations like Wrightwood.
The Community Teaching Garden, located at 4176 Warbler Road in Phelan, is a place-based learning space where nutrition is taught from the ground up in a vegetable garden setting. Free community classes are offered monthly, on the second Saturday at 10 a.m. October’s class will cover harvesting and storing fresh fruits and vegetables.
With a bit of preparation and care, your fall garden can provide fresh, homegrown food well into the cooler months.
