I have long been a big proponent of using the full gardening season to grow and produce fruits, vegetables and herbs in your garden.  I am not even talking about using season extension methods like row cover or high tunnels, but instead simply taking advantage of our fairly long growing season.

I posted a fall growing timeline on Talking Hocking back on July 8th.  You read that right,  summer is when you plan your planting.  You look at the frost and freeze dates and count backward.  I listed the best varieties to plant in the post.  I planted in early August the next round of zucchini and green beans.

The best thing about fall is that many of the problems you face in spring and summer go away.  The temperatures moderate,  the rain comes back and the bad bugs go away.  There are a ton of pollinators just looking for something with a flower.  You have ideal growing conditions and in many cases will get a larger harvest than the summer one.

Here is what a squash blossom looks like when it is not full of cucumber beetles

The green bean patch looks ragged but that was after a fourth picking of beans.  Still have at least one or two left before they are done for the season, but that still means beans until Halloween.

I thick planted carrot seed from a color mix.  As they mature I will pick out the largest carrots which will give room for the smaller carrots to grow larger.  They are cold tolerant and so the carrot patch will last until Thanksgiving.   They look and taste great too.

The weather prediction for fall frost and freeze noted a later arrival than most years.  That is helping for sure.  Not every year is like this one, but seed is cheap.  I planted 3 zucchini plants, 3 squash plants and a 9″ row of beans.  Cost was less than $2, totally worth it to take the chance and most of the plants still look great.

The ten day forecast for Logan has a small chance of a frost next week Monday night.  I am hoping the micro climate of my office, the street and the parking lot keeps it above 40 degrees.  If so I bet I will be eating these little beauties next week.

Next year make sure to take advantage of fall weather and make a plan to extend your harvest.  Fall is a great time for growing and you will be surprised by the amount you can sneak in before the frost and freeze dates.

Harvest is on at The Children’s Educational Garden here at the fairgrounds.  The vertical garden experiments I have been working on are producing a large volume of produce.  Feel free to come and get some cherry tomatoes (PLEASE!!)

I charted progress with pics and video and made a presentation for you all to enjoy:

On of my more favorite job activities is to help get a vegetable garden up and running.  It can be backyard, urban farm or community gardening but I really enjoy the process as well as it is one of my areas of specialization –> Local Food Production.  I always say the best local food is the food you grow yourself.

I was referred by a colleague to Laura Nadeau, Site Lead, at Hocking County Peer House in Logan, a part of Integrated Service.  Laura besides being site lead is the resident chef, den mother, gardener and overall saint who keeps Peer House moving and she asked  if I would come over to help them get a vegetable garden plan going.  They grow vegetables that can be used in the food service , right up my alley.

First thing is that they have some great spots to grow flowers and vegetables.  Two nice half sun beds in the front and a perfect full sun, south exposure spot in the back yard off the deck.  So we made a plan.

Laura sourced some flowers and seeds(and started some transplants herself) and with some volunteer and resident help we got the beds planted.

This bed got flowers, the other front bed got roma tomatoes, the back beds are mixed veggies

You should see it now!  Harvest is on for tomatoes, zucchini, green beans and cucumbers with peppers and pumpkins on the way.

They even won an award for it.

A garden spot does not need to be large to be productive.  Contact me if  you have a space you wish to garden in and I will help you get started on the path to creating your own local food.

Have you checked the Fall Vegetable Planting Timeline to make sure you are maximizing garden productivity?  The NOAA/NWS projected fall of 2017 will have a delayed freeze risk of 1-2 weeks.  That gives the potential for a longer harvest into the fall.   You still have time to plant a bunch of seed.

I started some lettuce under the lights of my Seed Start Grow Station last week.

Four Season Marvel variety. Red leaf, cold hardy, very tasty

I will put these into The Urban Farm in a few weeks.  I will start more seeds in about 2 weeks or so.  Lettuce is frost tolerant and fairly cold hardy.  With row cover we will harvest until Thanksgiving easy.

In the Children’s Educational Garden here at the fairgrounds, harvest is in full swing with the cherry tomato vertical garden providing a colorful medley.  My favorites are the white and purple cherries.

I seeded bush green beans that have about a 50 day maturity from seed.

The zucchini is also up and I hope to start harvesting by end of september.

Fall is one of the best times to grow.  Maximize your production by getting some seed in the ground now so you have vegetables to enjoy later on.