Extend your garden season

Extending our short growing season

When people speak of extending their gardening season, I notice that they focus on an early start in spring—greenhouses, seed trays, hot beds, row coverings and the like.  That’s all well and good.  But not often enough do we speak of extending the other end of the season; late summer and early fall are frequently ignored as options for extending our vegetable gardens.

Through my research, experience, and many vegetable crop failures, I have learned a lot in a short time about planting a second, and often a third, crop in late July through August. Sometimes I even start a second crop in late June or early July, depending on my garden cycle. 

Consider, if you will, that the soil is warm during this time, which makes for good seed-starting.  And many times raised beds or vegetable rows have already done their duty for earlier crops like spinach, scallions, peas, and spring beets.  This soil can easily perform one more time before its winter’s rest. (Remember the rule: feed the soil, not the plant. If you take care of your dirt, it will take care of you!)

I baby my dirt.  My dirt is treated tenderly.  Let’s consider my spinach bed as an example.  When spinach starts to bolt in the heat, I pull the stalks and lay them flat on top of the soil.  Since I use raised beds for my kitchen garden, I can nicely control how the soil is managed.  I add lots of homemade compost right on top and I don’t till the dirt.  I just water it and weed it as if it had vegetables growing.

When I’m ready to replant another round of spinach for my fall harvest, the act of digging a hole to plant the seeds is enough “tilling”.  When my second spinach crop is harvested, I’m ready to sow some winter rye, as a cover crop.  This act of adding a “green manure” protects the bed throughout the remainder of the fall, through the winter, and into the early spring season.

• After all the peas have been harvested in July, I plant a second crop of summer squash and beets.  Since the peas, science tells us, fix nitrogen into the soil, the bed is stoked up and ready for a second crop.

• Pickling cukes make for a good second crop as well, since the seeds love hot soil to germinate and the young plants love the heat of late summer.  You can harvest the cukes while they are small and tender, incorporating them into your sweet pickle relish or dills.  This is a great way to bulk up your New England pantry for our long winters!

 

• Toward the end of July, if you have a couple open beds or rows that were used for exhausted crops, why not plant a second set of beans?  I like to plant bush beans later in the season for two reasons.  First, I get at least one solid crop of September beans that I can either  blanch and freeze or add to my early fall roasted chicken; and second, I love the idea that the beans will add nitrogen into the soil before winter…and will pave the way for my tomatoes and peppers next spring!

 

• Broccoli and cabbage (but not Brussels sprouts) can also be sowed for a late October or early November harvest, but you’d probably be wise to plant them in late June to mid-July.  Now, the reason I don’t recommend Brussels sprouts is that in my experience the sprouts need a running start on the season in order to establish strong roots and hearty main stocks to hold those delicious little cabbage heads!

• If you get a head start on your mid- to late-summer crops (up to mid-July), then why not try Chinese greens like bok choi, carrots, and turnips?  They should do fine with a couple extra weeks of summer warmth in the beginning. 

 

• Potatoes come in strongly in the spring when you plant in the late season.  I find the Maine Potato Lady helpful if I have questions.  I’ve been successful with Kennebecs and Katahdins, especially when I use these new fangled potato bags that absorb above-ground heat from the late summer.

• Of course, lettuce and other tender greens planted throughout the season is a great idea.  I plant mixed greens in pots on my patio so that I can better control the sunshine, since too much heat can cause immediate bolting and bitterness.  But late August plantings will do well.  In years past, I’ve had early snow on my lettuce leaves with no discernable problems.

 

Note:  for some reason, late season plantings need a bit of extra water, in my experience.  Maybe it’s because they hit the ground running with hot weather?!  Just a note…

I encourage everyone who asks to do some research.  Free seed guides, either online or hard copy versions, are fantastic sources of information and knowledge. Also, try your local library or contact your cooperative extension service. Our cooperative extension, administered through the University of New Hampshire, is awesome! 

Since I tend not to save seeds from late season crops, I don’t stress about planting heirloom varieties.  As you may know, heirloom seeds are the only dependable seeds from season to season.  Open pollinated seeds produce nice vegetables and fruits, but are not too dependable when it comes to next season’s crops, and hybrid seeds are made to not pass along their genetic codes.

As always, I recommend these seed companies: Cooks, Johnny’s, Seeds of Change, and Highmowing Seeds.

Best of luck,

Mario
Editor, gg.org