For fresh vegetables through the winter you need fall vegetable gardens

A fall vegetable garden is just a continuation of your vegetable garden throughout the year. When your early vegetables have been eaten or cooked up into a delicious vegetable soup it is time to

plant the fall vegetables that come alive in the cold. If some of your summer vegetables are going to seed don’t forget to collect seeds for next year. Dry them out and keep in a cool dry place until you are ready to use them.

Any summer plants that look like they are past their use by date just pull out and leave them to decompose on top of the soil.

In the middle of summer you need plenty of mulch on top of the ground to keep the soil moisture in the soil. If you are using trickle irrigation you still need mulch to add nutrients to the soil. In mid summer go down to your local garden center and see what seedlings they are selling because that is what you need to be planting. As always don’t plant too many of the same vegetables unless you love eating it because you will be.

With seeds you can space out when the vegetables will be ready to harvest.

A good idea. But just remember in the fall you’ll be invaded by every pest that ever lived so expect them to eat their share. Keep the small seedlings in plastic bottles until they are big enough to withstand the onslaught of hungry bugs. Hedgehogs, toads and frogs, praying mantises, and chickens and birds will all help to eat the bugs but be careful with chickens as they eat anything that moves. In the summer and early fall keep the trickle irrigation going as the ground starts to dry out. And now you should have a very productive fall vegetable garden.

Check out our Vegetable Gardening page and see what you think, but now is the time to stop thinking and just throw a few seeds around the house to see what happens.