Preparing for the Fall Vegetable Garden

As soon as your garden is planted and growing for the summer, it seems crazy but it is already time to start looking ahead to fall! Here’s what you need to know about getting ready for a fall garden in Michigan, our fall gardening crops are the same generally as what gets planted in the spring. 

In Michigan this usually gets planted out around the end of August, early September. 

My best tip for Fall Veggie Gardens

Spring gardens are very easy to directly sow into the ground, but I have personally found that fall gardens are not as successful simply because the soil is too hot for some of the seeds.  Transplants are much easier and successful for the fall garden for vegetables that are more picky about temperature (like spinach). Finding transplants for spring and fall garden is still harder than it should be here in Metro Detroit, and for that reason I start my own from seed.

Ideas of what to start indoors for fall from seed:

-broccoli

-cabbage

-kohlrabi

-bok choy

- beets

- lettuce

- spinach

- cilantro

- dill 

Its important to note that some of your fall garden selections are fast growing and like it cold, so they will be harvestable but not frost tolerant. Others, such as peas and spinach, are frost tolerant so you don’t need to protect them but they will eventually stop growing as the days get shorter into the winter. 

Making room for a fall garden

If your garden is just now exploding with growth it can be hard to see where a fall garden would even go! The easiest way to visualize this is to remember where all of the early stuff is coming out - anything planted in the spring, such as peas, broccoli, etc.  Plan to utilize that space again for more cabbage, bok choy, radishes, carrots, etc.

Garlic

Order now, plant in October

Most seed garlic suppliers are already accepting orders for garlic that will be shipping August/September. Garlic gets planted in October right before our frost in the middle of the month, and stays in the ground throughout the winter until it is harvested usually in June. 

Flower Bulbs

Order now for any that you have your eye on! I will be ordering some spring blooming Narcissus to help bring bees to my berries, Peonies, and iris. Did you know you could also order hostas this way, too?!  I know these aren’t technically vegetable garden related, but for me they kind of are since I have had severe pollination issues with my spring blooming berry bushes, and will need to plant more flowers to help.