How to Grow a Fall Garden - Cliff Notes from Class One of the "First & Third" Fall Gardening Series
Oct 09, 2024
Class 1: Planting a Fall Garden
When I teach, my goal is to keep it simple while also pointing out connections within the content to deepen students' learning.
Check out some notes (with favorite product links) below.
Which crops should we focus on in the fall?
As days shorten, your crop focus turns from the juicy fruits of summer to the fall leafy green and root vegetables that thrive with fewer hours of sunlight and cooler temperatures.
Favorite Fall Vegetable Crops Include: Lettuce, Kale, Chard, Broccoli, Cauliflower, Carrots, Radishes, Turnips, and Beets
Companion Planting
Just like it sounds, companion planting involves planting crops together that get along. In other words, these crops can enhance or protect each other and often do both.
By creating an environment of biodiversity, your different crops are not competing for the same nutrients, and pests who may love one plant might not be so keen on the strong scent of that crop's herby or floral neighbor.
Graphic created by luluesque.com. Resources like this (or even a good old google search) are beneficial to consult when planning your biodiverse space.
Planting a Mini Garden in a Grow Bag
Why a Grow Bag? It comes down to using smaller spaces while utilizing the grow bag's porosity. When growing in plastic pots, roots may reach the pot's side, bend, and grow in a spiral pattern, making them root-bound.
In porous materials, when roots touch the pot's side, they can sense oxygen, stop the growth of that root, and send energy to the plant to continue growing elsewhere. This process, called "air pruning," creates a healthier, more robust root system.
In a 15-gallon grow bag (my favorite one is made by Epic Gardening), you really could grow a mini biodiverse and plentiful garden!
Our Grow Bag Mini-Gardens Included: E.B. Stone Organic Raised Bed Garden Soil mixed with worm castings, a small redwood trellis with twine, four varieties of lettuce, one marigold plant, pea seedlings, radish seeds, carrot seeds, and six onion bulbs.
Seed Starting Using Seed Cells
- Sow seeds in a seed cell system that allows watering in a tray to absorb moisture as needed. In class, we used these sets.
- Use a lightweight seed-starting soil or mixture designed to hold moisture while allowing for airflow to prevent root rot. This is my favorite Seed Starting Mix, also made by E.B. Stone.
- Moisten soil to the consistency of a damp sponge before putting it into the seed cells. Doing this before the seeds are planted means the seeds can stay put and get the consistent moisture needed in order to germinate.
- Plant your seeds according to the recommended depth in the seed packet.
- Use a cover to create a greenhouse environment to keep the seeds consistently damp. If done correctly, you should only water the tray again once the seeds have sprouted.
- Remove the greenhouse-inducing cover once half of the sprouts have broken the soil surface. Those new leaves need sunlight and will get stretched and "leggy" if left covered.
