Ive heard complaints we didnt get a summer.
What?
Its been a wonderful summer. I didnt have to water the garden once. My air conditioner wasnt running nonstop and last time I checked, summer doesnt officially end until the third week of September.
Quit complaining. Plant some cool season vegetables and herbs. There is plenty to be happy about. And there is plenty of time left to grow and harvest more food in the garden. If you utilize season extension methods, you could be gardening well into November or even December. I hang my hat up in October. I need a break.
Most of you know how I feel about kale, but for those of you who love it, now is a great time to plant more of the awful stuff. While youre at it, plant some chard alongside.
Dont get me wrong. Im all about including food that has earned the title nutritional powerhouse in my diet. I just hate kale and chard and pretty much anything that has the texture of alligator skin and tastes like dirt. But you can plant it now.
You can plant radishes, too. The underrated radish doesnt get the credit it deserves. Its so much more than added color for salad or slaw. Its perfection is in its simplicity. And like kale and chard, it is rather a like-or-hate vegetable, too.
Spread radishes with butter, real butter, not that stuff that comes in plastic tub, but butter made from real cream that came from a real cow. There are several local producers who sell it in a two-pound roll. Try it on radishes with a sprinkling of pink or some other minimally refined salt. Its how the French eat them.
Other root vegetables do well in the late summer garden. Beets and turnips are harvestable in as few as 30 days. You can plant carrots now, too, but they need about 80 days to reach maturity. They dont mind cold weather and can be harvested as long as the ground is not frozen.
Root vegetables are easy to grow, relatively pest resistant and, if stored properly, they store well for use throughout the winter.
Even the best local grocery stores carry maybe half a dozen types of lettuce. There are more varieties you can plant in your own garden. Lettuce is easy to grow and it grows quickly. If you plant it every 10 days now through the end of September, youll have a constant supply until the first or second heavy frost.
Culinary herbs will thrive as summers heat becomes more temperate. Parsley, cilantro, thyme, chives and marjoram will provide flavor in the kitchen for the kale and chard!
This time of year, so much is coming out of the garden it is easy to forget some vegetables we harvested in spring can be planted again now for a second harvest in autumn.
Begin canning, drying or freezing vegetables ready for harvest now.
Make room in the garden for more plants that will provide you with the healthiest, safest vegetables.
