Even though it’s still 98 degrees outside, it’s the time of the year to be looking ahead to plan a fall garden. With the optimal climate of Northwest Florida, the fall season offers gardeners a time to refresh their plots and prepare for another productive season. Here’s a guide to make the most of the fall gardening season!
Site Prep for Fall Gardens
When transitioning from summer to fall, it is important to prep the area where a new crop will be placed. It’s best to remove all dead material from your spring garden so it will not spread disease or bacteria to the new plants. You also may consider adding nutrients to the soil after it has been tilled for fall vegetables. The best method to know how much to add into the soil is by first taking a soil sample. The soil sample results will show what is readily available for vegetables going in the ground and will give you a baseline of how much fertilizer or organic amendments to add. The fall season is also one of the best times of the year to prioritize soil health. Another way to do this in the off season is to incorporate a cover crop into your gardening regimen. For more information on cover crops please visit: https://nwdistrict.ifas.ufl.edu/hort/2023/10/19/cover-crops-in-the-garden/
UF/IFAS Photo by Tyler Jones.
What Vegetables Do I Plant in the Fall?
The “cool” temperatures of a Florida fall make it very ideal for a variety of cool-season vegetables. Vegetables can be classified a hardy, semi-hardy, and tender based on their abilities to withstand freeze conditions, cold temperatures, or high heat. That is how can put vegetables in warm-season and cool-season groups. Tender vegetables are considered short season and are typically seen in spring and summer months. Examples of tender vegetables are potatoes, tomatoes, and squash. Semi-hardy vegetables are mostly frost-tolerant but cannot withstand freezing temperatures. Examples are carrots, leafy greens like Swiss chard and Bok Choy, peas such as sugar snaps, and celery. Lastly, hardy vegetables are a true cool-season vegetable that is frost-tolerant and can withstand freezing temperatures up to a certain degree. Examples of hardy vegetables are broccoli, cauliflower, kale, onions, and garlic. To find more information on fall vegetables in northwest Florida, please visit: https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/EP451
UF IFAS Photo by Tyler Jones
Fall Garden Maintenance
With the temperatures being cooler in the fall months, your garden vegetables will require less water. It is best to water your garden early in the morning to allow the soil to dry out during the day. Doing this will prevent fungal growth and root rot. Utilizing mulch will also help conserve soil moisture, regulate the soil the temperature from the cool weather, and suppress weeds. Even through the winters are typically mild in Florida, it is still best to have a freeze protection plan for your garden. Using row covers or frost blankets will help shield your garden when the temperatures drop.
As you enjoy your fall garden, planning ahead for winter and spring will also set you up for success. Research what crops will follow best behind your fall harvest and consider starting your seeds indoors to get a head start. By embracing these fall gardening tips, you can enjoy a bountiful harvest and a thriving garden throughout the season. Happy Fall!
In case you missed it, you can watch our last session of Gardening in the Panhandle LIVE! that aired on October 12th by visiting our YouTube Playlist with all the past episodes of our gardening webinars.
We had a great conversation about herbs and cool season edible plants last month and this article compiles the links shared by the expert panel in the episode. Thanks for watching!
If you ever drive in the country during the cooler months, you may notice wheat and oats planted out in the fields. They seem to be “covering” the farmland. Well, that is exactly what they are; they are a cover crop! But, did you know, that cover crops can also be implemented in your garden? You may be asking yourself, “What is a cover crop?” “How can I use that in my garden?” and “How does it benefit me?.” Today we are going to answer these questions.
What is a cover crop? A cover crop is a commodity that is planted when fall or summer gardening has ended to “cover” the area that was previously planted. It is planted in between planting seasons, so you would plant a cover crop in the winter between fall and spring crops. Cover crops are a mechanism to help improve the soil quality of your gardening area over time when it is not being used. The technique of implementing cover crops has been around for over 2,500 years. It is suggested that the Greeks and Romans used cover crop methods. So, if the wheel isn’t broke, don’t fix it!
If you decide to use cover crops in your off season, there are things to consider: your growing season, what will improve the nitrogen fixation for your next season, the contribution the cover crop will give to your organic matter building in the soil, and how it will improve your soil health to increase future yields.
Cover crops can help prevent soil from eroding during the off season. The roots of your cover crop will allow the soil to remain in place and add back organic matter over time. These crops are one of the best options to help improve your soil health of your garden, food plot, raised bed, etc. Like anything else, there are benefits and challenges. Benefits include weed control, soil erosion prevention, improving soil health/recycling of soil nutrients, and potential pollinator habitats. Challenges that cover crops can create are that they can become excessively woody and tall so they become hard to manage and if not timed correctly, your next season’s planting schedule can also be obscured. An example of a taller woody maturing crop would be sunn hemp. Shorter nonwoody options include clovers, vetch, and several types of grasses.
There are many different types of cover crops. Some examples include: winter wheat, red clover, annual rye grass, vetch, English peas, and sunn hemp. These all have characteristics in common: they are weed suppressors, they prevent erosion, a few are strong sources of nitrogen, they build soil matter, and a few even attract pollinators.
Sunn Hemp field at Bettstown Farm in Bainbridge, GA, UF/IFAS Extension A. Payne
When planting your cover crop, be sure that there are no remaining plants from your previous plantings still in your growing area. Clear the area of weeds and any flowers, fruit, or vegetables. The soil will need to be level and as you plant your seed for the cover, broadcast the seed in a back-and-forth motion to ensure even planting. Cover the seeds with a thin layer of topsoil.
The next question you may have, “When do I remove my cover crop to plant my next season?” Cover crops should be terminated when they reach their flowering stage or when they appear to begin producing seed heads. When a cover crop flowers, then it has a reached the point that it has contributed the most it can of the biomass and nutrients to your soil. If they are not terminated before the seed formation stage, then they could become a weed or what is deemed to be a plant out of place in your next crop season. We terminate by mowing or crimping down the crops to where it is flush with soil. The cover crop remains can be left on the soil surface to decompose as mulch. Leaving the cover crop on the top of the soil is considered a no till method. A rule of thumb is to time your cover crop seeding so that you can terminate the crop 3 months prior to planting your next crop.
Cover Crop Termination Example, Photo Credit: D. Leonard, UF/IFAS Calhoun Extension
Sweet potatoes are ideal for filling the gap between summer and fall crops as they have a long growing season. Photo by Janis Piotrowski.
Take the Summer Off, Grow a Cover Crop
As gardeners in the northern states plant and harvest crops until fall, those in the south know that summers can be brutal. In Florida and other areas in the deep south, temperatures can reach triple digits by the summer solstice, and humidity can make it feel like you’re swimming through the air. Pests, from mosquitos to stink bugs, descend quickly, making it no fun to spend hours weeding and watering in the sweltering heat, only to watch your plants struggle to survive. This is why we take advantage of the summer swelter by relaxing with some ice-cold lemonade and enjoying a well-deserved break.
However, while we take a summer gardening hiatus, it’s essential not to leave our soil bare. Fallow soil can become compacted and lose its structure, as there are no roots to create air channels that allow water from frequent summer storms to penetrate the soil. This makes it more challenging for plants to grow in upcoming seasons and can lead to erosion, nutrient depletion, and weed growth. By planting cover crops during the off-season, gardeners can prevent these issues and improve the health of their soil for fall planting. Cover crops offer a multitude of benefits, such as adding nitrogen to the soil, increasing organic matter content, suppressing weeds, breaking pest and disease cycles, and even providing a crop to harvest in the fall.
Fix Nitrogen with Legumes
Cowpea is a summer annual legume that can fix nitrogen, improving soil fertility for fall crops. Photo by Michasia Dowdy, University of Georgia, Bugwood.org.
Summer cover crops are a great way to keep your garden healthy and productive during the off-season, and leguminous crops like cowpeas, soybeans, and sunn hemp can add an extra boost to your soil’s fertility. These legumes have a unique ability to form a symbiotic relationship with nitrogen-fixing bacteria in the soil, allowing them to convert atmospheric nitrogen into a form that plants can use for growth.
Apart from their nitrogen-fixing properties, leguminous cover crops also have deep taproots that can help to break up compacted soil, improve water infiltration, and reduce soil erosion. When planted in dense stands, they can even suppress weed growth, making it easier to maintain your garden’s health.
It’s important to remember to terminate your leguminous cover crops at the bloom stage, as this is when the nitrogen-fixing nodules on the roots are at their peak. By cutting them down at this point, you can help to release the fixed nitrogen back into the soil, where it will be available for future crop use.
Increase Organic Matter with Buckwheat
Buckwheat not only builds organic matter in soil but it also attracts pollinators. Photo by Russ Ottens, University of Georgia, Bugwood.org.
Buckwheat is an ideal summer cover crop for gardens with poor, sandy soil. It is a rapid grower and can produce a large amount of biomass in a short period of time, which can be used to increase soil organic matter content, improving soil structure. The cover crop’s dense, fibrous root system provides ample surface area for nutrient uptake and helps prevents erosion.
Another major benefit of planting buckwheat is its ability to attract beneficial insects, particularly pollinators like bees and butterflies, which can help increase the yield of crops that rely on pollination for fruit set. Additionally, buckwheat is known for attracting predatory wasps, which can help control insect pests. Buckwheat also has the ability to scavenge phosphorus from the soil, making it available for other crops.
To prevent buckwheat from becoming weedy, it is important to terminate it before it goes to seed. This can be achieved by chopping it down when it starts to flower and leaving it to decompose in place.
Suppress Nematodes with Marigolds
French marigolds can help suppress root-knot nematodes. Photo by North Carolina, USDA APHIS PPQ, Bugwood.org.
Nematodes are microscopic, unsegmented roundworms that can be either be free-living or plant parasites. Among them, the plant-parasitic species, such as the root-knot nematodes, can cause severe damage to crops and even lead to their demise. They are difficult to control as they reside underground or inside plants, and nematicides are not easily available to home gardeners.
However, planting cover crops like African or French marigolds before the main crop can significantly reduce nematode populations. These marigolds release alpha-terthienyl, which suppresses not only root-knot nematodes but also other disease-causing organisms.
Apart from marigolds, several other summer cover crops like sunn hemp and velvetbean can also suppress nematodes, especially for root-knot and sting nematode control.
Cover Crops for the Dinner Table
Growing cover crops that serve a dual purpose of providing ground cover during the hottest months and yielding edible produce in the fall is an excellent way to make the most of garden space. Some examples of such crops are sweet potatoes, field peas, and daikon radishes.
Sweet potatoes are ideal for filling the gap between summer and fall crops as they have a long growing season. They have a deep root system that helps break up compacted soil, and their vines provide ground cover, reducing soil erosion. In the fall, their tubers can be harvested after the leaves have died back to make a nutritious and delicious addition to any meal.
Field peas are a versatile crop that not only provide benefits to the soil as nitrogen fixers and ground covers but also offer delicious edible pods if allowed to develop. There are many types of field peas for which to choose, including black-eyed peas, crowder peas, and cream peas. Pods can be harvested in the fall and used to enhance the flavor of stews, salads, and soups.
Daikon radishes are an excellent cover crop that grow deep to break up soil and they have plenty of flavor for the dinner table. Photo by Guodong Liu, UF/IFAS.
Daikon radishes have a deep taproot that can help break up compacted soil, and their foliage can help suppress weed growth. In addition, daikon radishes can be harvested in the fall and can be used in a variety of dishes such as soups, salads, and stir-fries.
Timing is Everything
To make the most of your summer gardening break, plant cover crops as soon as you conclude your spring harvest, typically from late May through early July. Scatter the seeds evenly over the bed and lightly rake them into the soil. It is important to keep the soil moist during the germination period, which typically lasts four to 10 days depending on the crop.
Regular monitoring of your cover crops as they grow is essential to ensure they are terminated at the appropriate time, preventing them from becoming weeds and competing with other crops. Once terminated, you can leave the cover crop residue on the soil surface as a mulch or incorporate it into the soil.
So, this summer, stay cool and let your cover crops take the heat as they improve soil fertility, increase organic matter, prevent erosion, suppress nematodes, reduce weeds, and even provide food for a fall harvest.
Would you like to make money off your land? Are you looking to diversify your current plans on your property? Jackson County is hosting a fruit and vegetable meeting on January 26, 2023, and this just may be the perfect way to start off your new year!
Photo by Molly Jameson.
When thinking about what it means to be successful in planting your garden or having fruit trees, often the first thing that comes to mind is a healthy quality crop. This starts with the health of your soil. We will have two specialists that cover soil health and the benefit of adding cover crops to your rotation during the off season. The second thing that might come to mind when wanting to be successful is how to start? how much time do I have to devote to gardening? and how much do I want to do? This meeting will also have a specialist coming to Marianna to cover how to get started on a property with a specialty crop. Even though this information may be geared towards new farmers, it could also be very useful to new land owners and community residents just wanting to do more on their property. You may find that you have so much extra produce that you want to have a little fruit stand!
There will also be a session on the importance of drip irrigation, fertigation and how to implement these practices. Drip irrigation will not only save you money in the long run with the use of less water, but it is also much better for overall plant health by reducing pest and disease problems. Fertigation is the process of adding soil amendments, water amendments and other water-soluble products into an irrigation system. This process can be both beneficial to the plants and cut back on the time it would take to fertilize by hand.
The next session on specialty vegetable and fruit crops will teach about the various exciting specialty crop opportunities in the Tri-State area such as artichokes, blackberries, Seminole pumpkins, and more. Finally, the meeting will also cover cucurbit disease updates and will be extremely useful if you already have a field or garden of watermelons, cucumbers, or squash! Come with questions! CEUs will be offered as well if you are a homeowner that holds a pesticide license.
Organic matter is the “glue” that will hold your soil together. Photo by John Edwards.
While, the audience for this conference is primarily small to medium sized, diversified cucurbit and vegetable producers in the tri-state region including the counties in the Panhandle, Alabama, and Georgia, the residential community is welcome to attend and will truly benefit with learning about soil health, cover crops, fertigation, drip irrigation, and specialty crops. The conference will be held at the Jackson County Extension Office in the Peanut Hall. We are planning a full morning with educational sessions and lunch to follow.
This meeting will be $5 at the door and pre-registration is highly encouraged. Please call our office at 850-482-9620 to reserve your seat and if you have any questions.
Tri-State Fruit and Vegetable Meeting
Thursday, January 26, 2023, 8:00 am- 1:00 pm at the Jackson County Agriculture Offices Auditorium, 2741 Penn Ave., Marianna.
Yay, we are halfway through with August and our summer is winding down! This is the perfect time to start prepping for that fall garden. Growing a productive fall vegetable garden requires thoughtful planning and good cultural practices. This process consists of selecting a site, planning the garden, preparing the soil, choosing the seeds and plants, planting a crop, and nurturing the plants until harvest time. In the Florida Panhandle it can be a challenge to get cool season crops started; there is a balance in starting them early enough to allow them to mature (50-60 days) before a hard frost and getting them through the end of a hot summer.
August and September are the main planting times for a fall garden. There are several cool-season crops and a final crop of warm-season vegetables that can be planted. Some good warm season crops are lima beans, cucumbers, eggplant, peppers, and tomatoes. Going into September it will be a good time to establish strawberry plants. Some good vegetables to start growing just around the corner are broccoli, carrots, cabbage, collards, mustard, and Swiss chard. https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/NorthFloridaGardeningCalendar Herbs that do well are cilantro, parsley, and lemongrass. Mint, oregano, and thyme should be planted in containers as they tend to spread. Mexican tarragon, mint, rosemary, and basil will also do well in September. See Herbs: http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/topic_herbs
Transplants from the local garden center will get the garden off to a fast start while seeds will offer more varieties to choose from. It is also important to think about your location. A vegetable garden can be in the ground, a raised bed, or even grown in containers. Your plants will need more than just a place to grow. They will also need sunlight, water, air, soil, fertilizer, and care. Most vegetables require at least 8 hours of sunlight. Keep an eye out for pest problems such as insects, diseases and weeds because they will continue to flourish in warm temperatures and high humidity. To help conserve soil moisture a layer of newspaper and mulch can be placed between the rows. Mulch also aids in weed control.
Raised beds are an excellent way to get started with gardening. Photo by Molly Jameson.
The result of a beautiful, successful vegetable garden is fresh produce to eat, share with neighbors, family, and friends and even the possibility to sell your harvest. With patience and practice your gardening skills will improve every year! Follow the above few tips and you will be well on your way to a great harvest! For more information about starting a fall garden or any other horticultural or agricultural topic, contact your local UF/IFAS County Extension Office. Happy Gardening
