6 Common Plants for Fall Gardening

Fall gardening presents a great opportunity to extend your growing season. There are certain plants that can’t stand fall weather, so you’ll want to choose the right ones. Here are 8 common plants that you can sow in the fall.

1. Carrots

Some carrots are planted in the fall. They won’t be harvested until the winter, though. When you plant your carrots, plant them 4” apart. Carrots can take a lot of time to germinate, so if you soak your seeds first instead of planting them right away, that should speed up the process a little. Some say that you should plan for 20 seeds per person, but you can vary that based on what your family needs.

2. Radishes

Radishes are very easy to grow. They can be harvested much earlier, usually somewhere in October. Space them 3” apart. If you mix carrot seeds and radish seeds in the same container, it saves space. You should plan for about 12 seeds per person. Again, it depends on what you need.

3. Tomatoes

Tomatoes can be a part of fall gardening. When you plant tomatoes, you need to give them time to grow. This presents a challenge with fall weather creeping up on you. If you can get them started on a balcony in late summer, you can move them inside when it starts to get colder (nighttime temperatures below 60 degrees Fahrenheit). Keep them near a window where they can get plenty of sunshine, and you can have tomatoes ripening into the fall. One plant per pot is best for container gardening.

4. Spinach

Spinach is good for fall gardening because it likes cool weather. If you want to harvest something quickly you should try spinach. Spinach plants can get big, so you will want a single plant for every 12” pot. You should plan for four seeds per person.

5. Swiss Chard

If you’re planting Swiss chard in a container, you should plant one seed every inch. Sow ½” in the soil. Fordhook Giant is a good variety of Swiss chard to start out with. You’ll have a nice harvest, hopefully by November. Swiss chard takes a little longer to mature than other plants.

6. Rhubarb

Rhubarb is one of the easiest things to grow. You can harvest it as soon as the leaves are big enough for your taste. Traditionally the leaves are chopped off and the stalks are used to make things like pies, jams and sauces. Note that rhubarb leaves are poisonous, and you only harvest the stalks for consumption.

Fall gardening isn’t so limited. The good thing about it is that your plants don’t need full sunlight. You do need to have some sort of system to keep your plants warm, like plastic with a wire frame. By October 1st, be sure to bring all of your plants indoors. Take good care of them and you can end up with a great fall harvest.