Plan Now To Plant For Fall: Southwest, South, Southeast

 

 

 

This year I’m going to focus on planting root crops throughout my fall garden. Carrots, onions, garlic, potatoes, turnips, and radishes are on my list of things to plant. I’ll also probably throw in some spinach as well. My children have asked for more peas, so as soon as our cucumbers are finished with these last few cukes hanging on the vines, I’ll pull them out and replant more Purple Podded peas for them.

 

CL: Have you planted fall crops before, or is this your first time? (If you’ve done it before, feel free to explain in detail! If it’s your first time, what are your concerns?)
Usually my garden sits pretty bare through the winter. This year I’m hoping to make the most of our growing space. Our winters are very mild here, so hopefully I won’t have too much trouble with stuff freezing. We’ll see!

 

CL: How will you preserve the crops that can be harvested before cold weather?
Since we don’t have a root cellar yet, I’ll most likely can whatever we don’t eat fresh. I’d also like to try storing root crops straight in the ground and using them as needed throughout the cold months. I’m a little afraid they might rot, or bugs will get to them before I do. If I have enough of a harvest to experiment with, I’ll try mulching them with straw and seeing how they do. One of these days we’ll have a proper root cellar!!