As I write this, the weather is blazing; summer is still staggering around, spreading acute misery. So it might be a little surprising to know that now is the time to start planting your fall/winter crops. I know, I know, I might as well have asked you if you have finished your Christmas shopping (but, since you haven’t, I wear a size 4 and despise yellow gold). But seriously, if you want to munch on some of your own winter veggies, now is the time for action!

If you are like me and had a summer garden (that got COMPLETELY out of control…oops), you get to have the fun job of doing a major overhaul. A few weekends ago, I pulled out most of my annual plants, trimmed back some I want to keep for a bit longer, and, of course, battled with weeds, etc. If you are planting in containers or have more than one garden space, then your job might be easier. Keep in mind that soil, wherever it is, can usually benefit from an application of mulch or organic fertilizer. In containers, sometimes it is even better to just completely replace the soil.

So, after you have your space ready, now what? The first thing to think of (if you are planting things to eat) is, well, what do you want to eat? Fall planting offers lots of options including peas, cauliflower, broccoli, kale, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, chard, collard greens, lettuce, etc. Yeah, yeah, half of those are veggies you begged your mom to stop feeding you…but smother them with butter, cheese and garlic, and you’ll be singin’ a different tune. A few of the veggies listed above are “one-shot crops” meaning that one plant gives you just one head, like cauliflower and cabbage. If you can’t get enough of these, then plant a few, and plant them in succession. Succession planting is when you plant one or two plants every week to two weeks, so you end up with a steady supply of the vegetable. What are you going to do with 5 cabbages at once anyway? (Some of these crops can be stored in cool storage, but for pretty much everyone not living on the prairie, that isn’t gonna happen!) Most of the vegetables are ones that will continually produce heads by off-shoots, like broccoli, or leaves to eat, like lettuce and kale. I recommend either buying immature plants or starting your seeds in small containers to be transplanted later.

Two great sources for buying plants are at the Vineyard Farmers Market (Shaw and Blackstone, Wednesday 3-6, Saturday 7-12), especially from John with Madera Flower Garden, or from Intermountain Nursery in Prather (who also have seeds). For seeds, look for organic certified to avoid GMOs, etc. I saw great prices on organic seeds at Wal-mart (of all places!) the other day, so I think it is safe to say that they are everywhere!

Other than the basic feeding and watering (yeah, that again), here are a few extra things that you need to know about some of the fall vegetables:
• Many of these crops are prone to aphids and caterpillars. Keep a good eye out, and if you start seeing problems, try to solve them organically. (You don’t want to ingest pesticides and end up like your Uncle Chuck, do you?) For aphids, there are many organic sprays to apply, and, for caterpillars, there is a natural product called caterpillar killer (death by poetry?).
• If you are crazy for cauliflower, most will need to blanched. (Say wha??) When the heads are about the size of an egg, loop a piece of string around some of the surrounding leaves and gently tie them over the head. The whole idea is for the head (or, properly called, “curd”) to be shaded while it grows. This produces a curd that is white and mild flavored. (Colored cauliflower or self-blanching types don’t need any help, thank you very much.)
• Be sure to harvest “head” type crops (cauliflower, broccoli, cabbage, etc) before they separate. You want to harvest while all the crowns or leaves are still packed well together because they lose flavor and nutrients rapidly after they are past their prime.
• For lettuce, try a mesclun mix. There are several varieties of lettuce and greens mixed together in a package. This past spring, I planted my first mesclun crop, and let me tell you I will never waste my time even looking at iceberg lettuce again.

Happy Gardening!

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Christy Cole thinks about Christmas shopping on December 24th at 11 pm. She is an artist and teaches for several different departments for FUSD.