Reap What You Sow_ 6 Best Vegetable Crops for Fall Season
Embracing the idea of vegetable home gardening is a substantial effort to promote a healthier life. It also ensures the family’s health safety since the ingredients are entirely homegrown. Although gardening can be faltering for beginners, it’s actually fun and fulfilling if they have the right tools and knowledge.
Now that the Fall season is coming, home gardening can be difficult, especially that the temperature is colder. Typically, the crops are dormant during this season because most vegetables don’t thrive well in cold conditions. With that said, a piece of advice from your local farmers or even reading this article will get you through. Hence, below are the enduring vegetable crops that can grow well during the Fall season.
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Rutabaga
A rutabaga or Swede turnips is a root vegetable that grows in a cold climate. This root crop belongs to the brassica family, including turnips, cauliflower, cabbage, and broccoli. Often, rutabaga is mistaken as turnips, but they’re different; rutabagas have yellowish flesh.
This crop has turnip-like thick roots and a bluish to green-colored leaves resembling a cabbage leaf. These veggies are easy to plant and you can definitely try growing your own rutabagas in your garden.
This root crop prefers well-drained soil and full exposure to sunlight. Moreover, aerating and raking the earth will remove the thatches and weeds that obstruct oxygen and water from penetrating. It’s also essential to throw an adequate amount of natural fertilizers because applying excessive amounts increases the soil’s nitrogen content, causing poor bulb formation.
Lettuce
Lettuce is a leaf vegetable that belongs to Asteraceae, a family of daisy. This crop is perfect during the Fall season since it thrives neither in scorching hot or frigid cold conditions; the hot temperature will make its taste bitter, and the cold weather freezes it. It varies in color, texture, shape, and sizes, which can be an excellent play for your salad.
This crop grows in soil that contains high organic materials, compost, and a sufficient amount of nitrogen to keep it growing. It needs a moist bed, but well-drained because it can be rotten easily. What’s fascinating is it can communicate to you when it needs water when the leaves are wilting. You can water it any time of the day, even during hot days, as it slows down the transpiration rate. Further, putting a thick layer of mulch made from tree barks maintains moisture and keeps the weeds from growing.
Kale
This green-leafed vegetable is a cold-hardy crop that belongs to the Brassica family. The kale is at its best during the Fall season because it grows faster and coldness contributes to its sweet and nutty taste. Moreover, this versatile vegetable can quickly adapt to different soil plots and is a delicious addition to fresh salads, omelets, and other dishes.
Kale flourishes well in both full sunlight and shaded areas. It needs to be watered and fed regularly to maintain its lushness green. In addition, plucking the weeds, removing the thatches, and tilling the soil loosens the compact soil for faster water and nutrients absorption. Also, by comparing the size of its leaves to your hands, then it’s time for harvest.
Brussel Sprouts
Brussel sprout is a member of the cabbage family that contains a plethora of vitamins and minerals. It’s also bred for several generations to spotlight unique features like flowers, leaves, and roots. Typically, it takes 80 days or more before you can harvest this crop. Moreover, to achieve the maximum flavor, it requires at least one or two light frosts.
Allow plants to have enough space to grow by keeping them 12 to 24 inches apart because they can reach up to six inches tall. It also needs a nitrogen-rich fertilizer application every two or three weeks to nourish the soil. Importantly, when you observe that the outer leaves start to turn yellow, remove it so that the fresh leaves underneath will receive sunlight.
Broccoli
Broccoli is an edible crop that belongs to the cabbage family. This vegetable can endure both hot and cold temperatures. More than its weather-variation adaptability, it’s also a versatile crop with numerous vitamins and minerals beneficial to the body. With that said, it is called the “crown jewel of nutrition.”
Like other crops, this vegetable needs full sunlight, approximately six to eight hours of sun exposure. If it’s least exposed to the sun, the product will become thin-legged, and the heads become smaller compared to the average or regular size. When watering the plant, do not over drench the heads because there’s a potential that it will rot.
Takeaway
The Fall season can be harsh to crops that do not have cold-enduring properties, and as an individual, you become inconsiderate to these life-giving produce if you give them a shot during this frigid season. Significantly, having the right knowledge in gardening contributes to developing your green thumb for a healthier life and environment.
