Thoughts on Extending your Garden for Fall
Enjoy planting your Fall garden as you continue to enjoy your Summer harvest!
Summer’s lease hath all to short a date.
- William Shakespeare
With the dog days of summer in full swing, it may be hard to imagine fall as being right around the corner. In fact, late July through September is the best time to extend your home garden’ s growing season by planting a fall garden. If you have been enjoying the fruits of your labor in your garden through the spring and summer you’re in for a double treat with your fall garden. Fall gardens take less time and work because the soil has already been worked up in the spring.
Many vegetables, such as broccoli and cauliflower actually do better when grown during the late summer and early fall months and some such as beets, kale and swiss chard develop an improved taste after being exposed to a light frost.
To prepare your garden for a fall harvest
- Remove any residue or debris from previous crops
- As in spring, spade or loosen the soil
- Add high quality organic fertilizer to replenish the nutrients used by your spring/summer crops
- Plant seeds according to their recommendations
- Keep the soil moist until your seeds germinate (this is especially important because you will be planting at the end of summer when soil tends to dry out quickly)
As summer comes to a close and fall approaches, frost presents a threat to many garden vegetables. However, there are many crops that are not effected by frost, or even moderate freezes and will continue to produce harvests well into the late fall moths. Some of the best fall producers are :
- Root crops (including, including beets, carrots, parsnips and turnips)
- Cabbage
- Broccoli
- Cauliflower
- Kohlrabi
- Swiss Chard
- Chinese Cabbage
- Kale
Other, more sensitive crops such as beans, cucumbers, tomatoes, and squash will, if protected, continue to produce crops into the fall. Some recommended and effective way of protecting these plants in your garden are to cover them with boxes, tarps, plastic or blankets. Covering the plants allows them to stay warm and decreases the chance of an early or light frost killing them.
Here are a few recipes to encourage your appreciation of your fall garden!
Sautéed Swiss Chard Ribs with Cream and Pasta Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 lb swiss chard, yielding 2 cups of chopped ribs
- 1/4 cup (half a stick) butter
- 3/4 to 1 cup heavy cream
- Enough dry pasta to make about one quart of cooked pasta (use rice pasta if gluten-free is required)
- Salt and pepper
Method
1 Separate the ribs from the greens. Cut the ribs into 1/2-inch to 1-inch pieces. Blanch the ribs in lightly salted boiling water for 3 minutes.
2 Melt butter in a saucepan on medium heat. Add the drained, blanched ribs and simmer for 4 minutes. Add heavy cream and cook until cream reduces by two-thirds.
3 While the cream is reducing, cook up your pasta according to the pasta’s package directions.
4 Mix creamed chard with pasta. Season lightly with salt and freshly ground pepper.
Arugula Salad with Beets and Goat Cheese Recipe
Ingredients
Salad Ingredients:
- Beets – (boiled until a fork easily goes in it, about an hour), peeled, sliced into strips
- Fresh arugula – rinsed, patted dry with a paper towel
- Goat cheese – chevre
- Walnuts – chopped
Dressing ingredients:
- Olive oil
- Lemon
- Dry powdered mustard
- Sugar
- Salt and pepper
Method
The amount of ingredients depends on how many people you are serving and how much salad you intend to serve them. The important thing is that this is a good blend of flavors.
The dressing for three servings of salad is 1/4 cup of olive oil, 1/2 lemon, 1/4 teaspoon of powdered mustard, 3/4 teaspoon of sugar, salt and pepper to taste. *Adjust to taste
Assemble the salad according to preference. A handful of arugula leaves, a few beet juliennes, some crumbled goat cheese, garnish with chopped walnuts. Dress and enjoy!
Happy Gardening!