Yesterday I picked up six packs of broccoli, Brussels sprouts and cabbage plants. I don’t have a lot of luck with a cold weather garden. According to Accuweather, our highs are going to be in the upper 90s for about the next 6 – 7 days, with at least one day having a heat index of 99 degrees. Then, within the next 30 days, our night lows will be in the 30’s. We don’t get a lot of conditioning cold. Those three items can survive down to about 25 degrees. I will need 50 to 60 days from planting the starts til harvest. I can’t plant those things while it’s still hot and chances of them maturing before we have a 25 degrees night are slim but one thing for sure – if I don’t plant, I won’t get any! If I plant these on September 17, I will need til about November 17 before temps drop to 25 degrees.
The first or second week in October I’ll plant garlic. I always use some of the garlic from this year’s harvest.
I’ll grow lettuce, spinach and kale inside under grow lights. I pretty much keep those things growing in the basement.
That’s about it for a Fall garden . . some but not much and hope for the best.
Karen Blankenship-Wood says
Judy, when you lived in Texas did you have better luck with a fall garden? It’s so hot here in the summer-not one homegrown tomato this year!
judy.blog@gmail.com says
I did because plants that will grow in cold but not sub-zero or even teens grew well there. Like I said with the cabbage, it needs at least 60 days to mature but it cannot survive the 90 degree temps that we will have until almost the very end of September. Then, by the end of November/first of December, we’re very likely to have some lows in the teens here.
In Texas, we would have highs that were low enough for fall plants to survive but it wouldn’t drop down into the low 20’s or teens til January or February.
Most days this summer, the temps in central Texas were about the same as what we were having here. Last year I didn’t get any tomatoes at all here but this year they did great. Not sure why but I was happy.
Paula Nordt says
Reading about your future temperatures makes me want to reach for my coat! I don’t know how you do it! My body just can’t take cold weather. I was working out in our “forest” every day this summer with heat indexes up to 113-116. I’d have to change to dry clothes when I’d go in, because the work clothes would be drenched in sweat. Still prefer that to temps in the 20’s. My husband would like it though.
judy.blog@gmail.com says
That’s exactly how it was here this summer. I think I took at least three showers most days. Not only was I dripping wet but I was dirty. I don’t seem to be able to walk through the garden without getting dirty! I’ll tell you like I tell Vince . . sometimes you just have to do it. I much prefer the cold to the hot. I can put on wool socks, gloves, a heavy coat, and a cap and go out with the dogs for as long as it takes. In the summer, it seems like the minute I get out of the shower, they want to go outside and then I’m going to get all sweaty again!
Two of the four winters I’ve been here, two of them have had nights three or four nights in a row of temps down in the -20’s. That’s tough! The dogs are pretty quick in those temps but those are the days I want to hibernate and stitch or knit.
Sandi B says
I’m going to follow your planting schedule for the garlic, so I hope you post when you plant! ?
MICHELE HERD says
have you ever tried row covers to extend the growing season during the cold temperatures? my SIL has lots of luck with them
judy.blog@gmail.com says
I have and haven’t found them to be worth it here. We go from a high in the upper 90’s to lows in the low/30’s or upper 20’s within a month and that pretty much paralyzes the growth of any of the veggies we like. I did plant a few late squash plants in large grow bags that I can bring into the greenhouse to extend their production a bit but even for those, it won’t be worth running heat in the greenhouse to save them so once the temp drops to the mid-20’s, they won’t survive in the greenhouse without heat. By this time of year, I’m pretty much ready to be done. I always plant a few broccoli, Brussels sprouts and cabbage plants as soon as the temps drop to the mid-80’s and hope I can get a bit of produce before they freeze. Sometimes I do and sometimes I don’t.