Getting Your Garden Fall Ready

Yes, I know it is still summer. But it is time to get your planters ready for fall and winter. Depending on your climate (and garden zone) you might be planting as soon as it cools off or planning now and waiting until winter is over and the frost is gone before you put things in the ground (but you can start them indoors). Right now is the time for planning. In California we don’t have much of a fall. It has been triple digits this week and will be hot next week as well. I have to wait until about October for most of my fall planting. But I can still plan ahead.

I buy my seeds and seedlings a variety of places. At my local hardware store, at a nursery that is about 15 minutes away and online, from Baker’s Creek (my friend raves about their high germination rate).

What To Plant?

How do you know what to plant? You need to look up what zone you are in. This is important. In Southern California I feel spoiled, knowing I can plant a lot, even in winter, since it doesn’t get that cold here. But I tried to plant raspberries (a family member loves them) and they didn’t last our hot summer. You can check somewhere like this, for a broad idea or ask someone at a local plant nursery. I’m in 9B so that helps me know what plants have a better chance of survival in my area.

How Much Room Do You Have?

You might have a huge yard, a few small planters, some raised vegetable planters, windowsill planters or even are planting in pots and buckets. You need to figure out where you are planting to know how much size you have. Plants that have deep roots need more room. Plants that trellis (watermelon, squash, etc) will spread out far. Some plants start out tiny but get huge, like artichoke.

What I’m Planting

I just ordered some seeds and plan to put them in the ground in about a month, once it starts to cool off. I bought (to name a few), cilantro, carrots, chives, swiss chard, a few types of lettuce, and about a half-a-a-dozen more that I’m not remembering at the moment. I have three raised planters plus some potato sacks (with potatoes growing in them) a long planter against the house in the backyard and another long one in the front yard. I’m also trying to plant less (at least for me) and only plant things we’ll eat since we are in a drought and I am trying to conserve water (all of my yard is drought-tolerant plants except my veggie planters).

Fall Garden Book Ideas… and More

Here is a list of cool books that I have at home for gardening. I love learning more and reading about new trends in gardening so am always looking for new books. All of them are clickable so you can purchase them on Amazon if you are interested.

1. No-Waste Composting book. This is a great way to compose indoor or outdoors. Instructions on how, tips and lots of color pictures.
2. The Vegetable Garden Pest Handbook. Learn to identify good and bad bugs in your garden! Which ones are problems and which are healthy for your plants? Plus natural solutions to get rid of the bad ones.
3. Gardening Is Awesome! Projects, advice and insight for young gardeners. This is a full-picture book for all ages (adults too, but geared for younger gardeners). Learn about soil, how to identify if it has high acid, how to fix soil. Plus preserving flowers, bucket gardening, kitchen window herbs and more.
4. Grow Your Own Spices. Learn how to plant, harvest and preserve your own spices. Ginger, turmeric, saffron, wasabi, vanilla, cardamom and more. In all garden zones.
5. California Fruit & Vegetable Gardening. Plant, grow and harvest the best edibles for California gardens. Instructions on over 70 edible plants, including plant care advise, weed tips and pest control. This book is for Northern, Central and Southern California areas (all are very different in climate).
   

6. Tiny Plants: Discover the joys of growing and collecting itty-bitty houseplants. This book is great for container gardening. Especially for those with small spaces or no yards at want to have plants around them.

7. A Woman’s Garden: Grow Beautiful Plants and Make Useful Things. Plants and projects for home, health, beauty and healing. This is a great book with so many ideas. But I hate that is gender-specific in the title. But then I realized, as I was flipping through, that there is a section on different types of gardening and each section is one woman’s garden/yard. Hence the name. Deanna’s Kitchen garden, Jan’s edible flowers, Tanya’s plants for skin care, etc.

Going to make some salsa out of these this week and then can it.

I’m sure there are thousands of garden books you can read at a bookstore, online or your local library. I hope you like my suggestions and enjoy the photos of my most recent harvest. Happy Gardening.