Just as the summer garden gets in full swing, it's time to start thinking about fall. If you are planning to have a fall harvest you’ll want to start planting again soon. Mid to late summer is the time to start sowing your fall garden plants if you're looking to bring fresh veggies to your table by the time the cool weather arrives. Crops like broccoli, can be sown in late summer for a fall harvest. Time to maturity will vary by crop, so check seed packs or tags in seedling containers and plan backward to come up with a planting date. For some crops, you'll want to schedule your fall harvest before the first frost arrives. Broccoli, for example, is sensitive to frost and freeze (but you can cover them to protect the growing buds in the event of an early cold spell), while kale, parsnips and collards can take the freeze. Here's a list of vegetables you can plant in mid to late summer for a fall harvest:

Brussels Sprouts

Brussels sprouts love cool weather and are often grown in cool climates as a spring crop that holds in the garden through summer. In warmer climates, though, Brussels sprouts can be started in fall and grown through winter into early spring. They can take a little frost. Start from seed indoors and transplant outside when weather cools, or buy transplants at your local garden center.

Beans

Beans of all types grow quickly and can produce abundant harvests up until frost. This makes them ideal for succession planting, meaning planting at intervals throughout the growing season. You can even start beans in the heat of summer. Sow outdoors directly in the soil. If you're growing pole beans, add a trellis; if you're growing bush varieties, no trellis is needed.

Beets

Beets are an ideal fall crop. Sow seeds directly outdoors; you can pre-soak seeds to help with germination. In warmer climates especially, sow seeds in late summer under taller crops like tomatoes or peppers to provide a little shade. After the temperatures cool and you remove the tall crops, beets will thrive.

Radishes

Radishes are one of the quickest maturing crops at four weeks from seed to harvest. Like beets, you can sow under taller summer crops to provide a little shade. You can stagger plantings to get a couple harvests of radishes from late summer through fall.

Turnips

If you've never had roasted turnips, you're missing out. Turnips are easy to grow in the fall garden and into winter. Direct sow in late summer to early fall. Roots are ready to harvest when they start popping up from the soil line. Smaller turnips roots are more tender.

Collards

Collard greens are popular in Southern gardens, but they’re easy to grow almost anywhere, as long as they’re planted in the cool weather of spring or fall. They taste sweeter when they're lightly touched by frost.

Green Onions

Green onions can be direct sown in late summer and harvested through fall and early winter.

Kohlrabi

Kohlrabi is a fast grower for the cool season, taking only six weeks to mature. You can use the bulbous stem in a myriad of ways — shredded, diced, sliced or even stuffed. The greens are also edible and very useful in many dishes.

Lettuce

Lettuce loves cool weather. Plant in late summer to early fall to enjoy in an autumn salad. You can also tuck lettuces into fall container gardens alongside pansies and other fall blooms. You can plant from transplants but lettuce also grows easily from seed.

Cauliflower

Cauliflower can be grown in spring and fall but is tempermental about heat and cold — it likes mild temps in between. For a fall harvest, plant transplants outdoors after temperatures are consistently in the 70s and below. Cover in the event of an early freeze.

Peas

Peas grow well in cool weather. Choose a short season variety for an autumn harvest and sow outdoors once temperatures have started to drop into the 70s and below.

Source: HGTV

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