America has caught the gardening fever and more home gardens are being planted each year. We say …Fantastic!!
We start out in the spring of the year and we all plant the good stuff such as tomatoes, peppers, sweet corn, green beans and summer squash such as zucchini. We baby our gardens all through June, and then in July the harvest begins. We have stocked our pantry with salsa, canned tomatoes for our winter soups, frozen sweet corn and really, we have been very prolific. We sit back and are proud of ourselves. We brag to our neighbors who did not plant a garden, and tell of our loaded pantry and we act a little smug because, let’s face it, we don’t spend nearly as much in the grocery as those unproductive neighbors. Boy, it makes you feel good!
But now it is late July and we are getting a little battle fatigue. The weeds are starting to win a few battles here and there. The vines are showing a little wear and tear. But, I say, DON’T GIVE UP YET!! The best is about to happen.
Fall is the best time of the year to grow such vegetables as broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, kale, mustard and other greens. If you plant these in a couple of successive plantings starting August 1, then you will have a nice harvest starting in late September and as late as Thanksgiving. What could be could be better than a broccoli dish on the Thanksgiving table knowing it came out of your garden?
So don’t give up yet. Now is the time to refurbish your garden and get some of the best vegetables of the season.
Stephen Fister
Tags: broccoli, cauliflower, fall garden
