Planting for a Fall Garden

 Submitted by Melissa, NEW Master Gardener

July is the time to start thinking about your fall garden.  Many crops can be planted now with the intention of harvesting in fall or even early winter.  Our estimated first frost date for zone 5A is October 15th.  So a July 15th planting gives you 90 growing days until the first frost.  Look at the seed package and the maturity date.  You want to plant things that have a maturity time of 90 days or less.  After the summer solstice (June 21) the daylight becomes a little less every day.  Due to this, your crops may take a little longer to mature than it says on the package; however the warmer soil may help them germinate faster than they would have in the spring.  

Things to plant in July for a fall harvest include dragon tongue beans, green beans, basil, cabbage, carrots, cilantro, chard, collard greens, mustard greens, kale, lettuce, peas, radish, spinach.  While some of these crops won’t survive past the first frost, some crops can survive several frosts, and are even improved after a frost or two.  Imagine harvesting carrots for Thanksgiving fresh from the garden!