How To Have a Bountiful Late Fall Harvest
It’s the end of another North Beach summer, and I have no idea what happened. Last I checked it was April, cold, windy, with lots of rain, and soil temperatures barely at 50 degrees when we truly need at least 55 degrees for seeding, germination, and growth.
Yet here we are with beautiful weather since early July. Dry, hot, and perfect for finally getting our fill with growing veggies, berries, leafy greens, and beautiful flowers. Time to enjoy what we sowed, and what we are now starting to harvest.
Late summer is also a time to look ahead to the next few fall months. There is currently still lots to do in our yards such as mowing and weeding but this is just as much a period of enjoying the fruit of our labor – literally in some instances. The beautiful weather, the lushness of our garden beds, and the pleasures that nature offers so abundantly are all ours to savor. But it is also still a busy time for gardeners.
Chores to do in late summer / early fall:
- Save your seeds and remember to label them. I never do, and I am always struggling within weeks to identify what seeds I have. Do as I say, not as I do for sure!!
- Dry the herbs you would like to use in your kitchen during the cold season to bring back the tastes of summer.
- Watering strategically hardens perennials by giving them less water as the month progresses.
- Protect your soil, late Summer / early fall is also the time to consider how to protect your soil over the winter. Here at GBTS we use straw at the end of the growing season, but you could just as well plant a cover crop for protection.
- Apply compost if you still want to plant a fall garden.
- Prune your berries!
Speaking of planting a fall garden – middle to late summer is the perfect time to still do some planting for a rich fall harvest. Plants that lend themselves beautifully to fall gardening are root vegetables such as beets, carrots, and turnips, but also leafy vegetables including Swiss chard and other greens like spinach and lettuce. Choose varieties that go from germination to harvest in about 50 days, and you will have some fresh produce at a time when everything else is shutting down.
If you are like me, you might even do some exploring now that the main season is winding down. I just attended an excellent presentation about microgreens, and I am in the process of trying it out. I am hoping to find a way to harvest some fresh greens throughout the winter that take only 7-10 days to grow. Microgreens are packed with nutrients, are easy to grow with a hydroponic system, and don’t take up a lot of space. For more information on how to grow these greens with only a few items that you may already have in your kitchen, check www.grocycle.com/growing-microgreens-on-paper-towels/
A great resource for purchasing microgreen seeds is www.trueleafmarket.com
As you can see, late summer / early fall brings us options, choices, and opportunities from just enjoying what we started in the spring to preparing the garden for winter or making the extra effort to start one more cycle of planting and harvesting.
Check out Garden by the Sea, Ocean Shores community garden, behind Galilean Church at 824 Ocean Shores Boulevard where you will find a productive maritime community garden and enthusiastic, experienced gardeners to share information, inspiration, and garden stories with. For questions, comments about this article, gardening in general or to share your gardening experiences, please email Info@GardenByTheSeaOceanShores.org
This article was originally printed in The Ocean Observer, August 2022.
