The Fall Garden – Gardening in Ease

How does the fall garden differ from the spring or summer gardens? For one thing, weeds are not as troublesome, especially if you have been careful to mulch. For another thing, fall vegetables such as squash and sweet potatoes seem to be just ready for picking; any hard work is in the past. The tomatoes and peppers are still producing on thick, sturdy frames developed during the summer, but needing little care now.

I recently read that if one starts kale seeds in the end of July or beginning of August and allows them to grow to maturity by the end of October, you can pick them all winter. They won’t grow during the winter but the plants will hold and even develop a sweeter taste with cold weather, same as carrots do. I needed to try this as I love to saute kale in olive oil with garlic and salt for my breakfast, letting the kale brown in the skillet until the edges are crispy.

It was too late to start kale from seed so I went to a local Amish garden center and bought 24 nice looking, tall kale plants. I put them in a 4 X 10 foot raised bed and covered them with netting to keep out insects such as cabbage moths. They look lovely! Will I be able to pick them all winter? I will report back in the spring.