Plant Fall Crops at Midsummer

Fall crops are a great way to get a little more out of your garden each year. If you are playing with the idea of planting them this year, it's time to get them in the ground!

Starting fall crops during the midsummer months is a great idea: you plant some greens in late summer, and then you get to enjoy them in October and November, when the frost actually improves their flavour. While this makes sense, a good number of people just don't bother, and believe it's not worth the hassle. In this article I will discuss how I start my fall crops, and I think you'll see that it's easy and quick.

These romaine lettuce seedlings had no problem pushing through a couple of inches of hay mulch. The mulch also greatly reduces the need for constant watering, despite the dry weather that we have been having for the past few weeks.

When do I need to sow my seeds?

The general rule is to sow seeds at least 10 weeks before the anticipated first frost, but I start even earlier, due to the extreme variability of the weather where I live. The first frost in Nova Scotia can land anytime in October, and sometimes in September, and while the flavour of a lot of greens tend to be improved by frost, their rate of growth is not. If crops are to achieve a reasonable size when they are harvested, they need time to grow, so early August is about as late as I would ever leave it. Luckily, figuring out when to sow your seeds doesn't have to be complicated at all — you just need to listen to your garden.