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As a gardener it is always hard to admit when fall starts to get closer. We don’t want our growing season to end! It has been a warm summer, but we still enjoy caring for and harvesting from our gardens. Not to fear, there are ways to continue gardening into October and November, giving us plenty more time to garden.

Fall vegetable gardens can be planted soon. Most of our fall vegetables should be planted within the first week or two of August to ensure a good fall harvest before the frost kills the plant. Those plants that you may have planted in the early spring to produce before it got too hot are the things that can typically be planted in the fall. For a fall harvest, plant beets August 1-10; carrots August 1-15; Chinese cabbage August 1-20; lettuce August 1-5; mustard August 1-25; radish August 1-20; snap beans August 1-5; spinach August 20- September 15; Swiss chard August 1-20; and turnips August 1-15. Broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, and brussels sprouts can be planted in the fall as well, but they should be planted from a transplant this late in the season. These crops need 65-85 days to maturity and may do better if they are planted as transplants.

The average first frost date for most of Southeast Nebraska is October 6-16, this comes from data from the High Plains Regional Climate Center. You can use the first frost date to figure out when to plant fall crops. Use the first frost date as a starting point, count backward the number of days to harvest listed on the packet of seeds and add a 10 day fall factor because the plants will mature slower due to the cooler weather.

Order transplants and garlic now to plant in September

Some local nurseries may not carry the transplants for your fall garden later into the season. A lot of the nurseries will clear out plant inventory by the later part of June and may not have these crops available in August for fall gardening. Check around to look for local inventory and see which nurseries will still carry these crops later in the season for fall planting. If you cannot find them locally, you can order seeds or transplants from mail order catalogs or through online shopping options.

Garlic is another crop that is planted in the fall, but it isn’t harvested in the fall. Plant garlic in October to be harvested the following June. Garlic needs to be planted in the fall because the new plants need to be exposed to cold soil temperatures for 1-2 months to form the bulb that will be harvested next summer. Even though it is early for planting garlic, you might want to order this early because garlic is difficult to find at planting time. Do not plant garlic from the grocery section, it will not produce well when grown in the garden.

Thinking ahead, you can extend your growing season even longer with a cold frame. A cold frame is a miniature greenhouse or a box built over your garden. Cold frames are built with a light-admitting lid, such as glass or plastic film, that helps hold in the heat on the plants growing inside. It keeps the air and soil temperature around the plants up to 10 degrees warmer than the surrounding environment.

If you have any further questions please contact Nicole Stoner at (402) 223-1384, nstoner2@unl.edu, visit the Gage County Extension website at www.gage.unl.edu, or like my facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/NicoleStonerHorticulture and follow me on twitter @Nikki_Stoner

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