Quick-growing and Fall-loving vegetables
Bill Calkins Burpee Program Representative
The saying goes “Fall is for planting” and whoever coined the term certainly knew what they were talking about when it comes to annuals, perennials, lawns, trees and, for this discussion, vegetables and herbs. As you are picking your bounteous harvest from the Spring planting, it’s the time to put some late-season crops in the ground. Here are some choices that work very well – even through the first frost.
One of the key considerations to selecting the best veggies and herbs to plant at the end of Summer and into Fall is crop time. Be sure to look at the seed packet or plant label to ensure there’s enough time in your area to grow to maturity. Look up your first frost date and work back from there. Some vegetables and herbs can take a light frost and some can’t. Like always, know what you’re planting. Note: There can sometimes be differences between specific varieties.
Lettuce
Just like in the earliest days of Spring, lettuce likes to grow in cool weather, so it’s perfect for Fall gardens. My favorite for Fall is the Burpee exclusive Gourmet Blend. This mix of five popular lettuce varieties is not only colorful, but was selected for a long harvest time. Another lettuce ideal for Fall is the BOOST Healing Hands mix, with a super-short crop time and bred for high nutritional content.
Broccoli
For planting in Summer to harvest in Fall, go with Destiny broccoli and enjoy the medium-small green beads that offer amazing flavor and plenty of vitamin A and C. This variety is quick but still requires 70 days of growing so don’t start it too late depending on your climate.
Cauliflower
Like broccoli, plant cauliflower in the Summer for a Fall harvest, but the crop time is much shorter (50 days) so you have much more flexibility. I like Burpee’s Snow Crown because of its vigor and yield. You can eat this versatile variety raw, cooked or pickled, and an added benefit is that it lasts for longer than a week in the garden if you don’t pick it right away.
Kale
You can plant this superfood in the Fall and continue to benefit from fresh nutrition as the temps drop – and that’s when many people start going for the comfort food recipes. Any Kale is great for cool-season growing but I especially like Burpee’s Kale Storm and Prizm. Kale Storm is a blend of different colors and textures and looks amazing in salads. Prizm is an All-America Selections Winner with proven performance across North America and has an almost nutty flavor, perfect for salads or cooking.
Green Beans
Many people think you plant green beans in the Spring and save the harvest to use throughout the year – but you can certainly plant another crop in the late Summer or Fall and pick fresh for later in the season, as well. But choose a quick-growing variety (45 days to maturity) like Burpee’s exclusive Beananza. Not only does it have an awesome name, it also has fantastic flavor and its compact profile is ideal for small-space gardens. This is helpful since at the time of planting, you probably have most of the garden already occupied.
In addition to these favorites, I also like turnips, radishes, kohlrabi and even green onions planted later in the season. As you can see, there are many options! So as the temps start to cool down, get back out in the garden and plant some Fall veggies. You know Winter is coming and soon we’ll all be looking out the window with a case of Spring Fever. Why not enjoy the flavor of fresh vegetables and herbs as long as you possibly can?
Are you growing a Fall garden this year? Share your stories with us @BurpeeHG.