Fall Harvest
By Laura Von Zittwitz:Â Pike County Cooperative Extension Master Gardener Apprentice
Fall is a very special time for gardeners as one crop after another reaches its peak. But autumn is also bittersweet; the cooler temperatures and shorter days are a reminder that winter lies just around the corner. In the meantime, there is the joy of harvesting fruits, vegetables, and flowers, which can be undertaken alongside the tasks that will prepare the garden for the cold months ahead. The following is a summary of fall garden activities.
Harvesting Crops: Whether you have just a few treasured tomato plants or a garden full of maturing vegetables, timing when to pick your produce can be tricky. Weather conditions such as frost and rain will affect quality and quantity. If you pick crops too early, the yield and quality will be less, but there is also a risk that delaying the harvest of frost sensitive vegetables could wipe out the whole crop. Some vegetables such as parsnips, kale, broccoli, and Brussels sprouts actually improve with frost, but many, including beans, summer squashes, tomatoes, and potatoes will not withstand frost and so should be picked or dug up when a frost warning is issued. Pick even green tomatoes as they will ripen if kept on a shelf or in a brown paper bag. Swiss chard generally will withstand a light frost, and others such as carrots and leeks can be harvested until the ground freezes, or left in the garden until spring.
Preserving the Harvest: Many of us remember our mothers or grandmothers preserving the bounty of the harvest by canning tomatoes, peaches, and pickles and lining the jars up in colorful rows. Freezing is now the more common way to preserve extra produce, but canning is making a comeback; specific instructions can be found in cookbooks and on the Internet. Old methods such as drying and cold storage still work today. Almost anything can be dried, and drying is an especially simple and effective way to store herbs. Many winter squashes and root vegetables can be safely stored for months in a cool, dry, dark place. Be sure to label all frozen and canned produce and regularly inspect your stored vegetables.
Saving Seeds: The choice of seed companies and seed varieties is immense, but saving your own seeds can be fun. Simply dry the seed on a paper towel; then place the seed into an envelope or container and store in a cool dark spot. Hybrid seeds are unlikely to reproduce the desired plant, so you will have better luck with non-hybrid and heirloom varieties. However, with tomatoes, the plant from which you intend to harvest seeds needs to be isolated from other varieties to stay true to form.
Cleaning-up: Cleaning up involves removing all annual plants and cutting back perennials. Healthy plant matter can be put in the compost, but some plants such as potatoes should not be composted as they may start and spread fungal infections. Never compost plants that have been subject to disease or pests. Remove them from the garden and if possible, burn the plant completely. Proper clean up is an important prevention measure in reducing pests and diseases.
Planning Next Year’s Garden: It helps to sketch out the plan for the coming year in advance. Some crops should have manure applied in the fall, not in the spring, and some soils and crops will benefit from the application of compost now. When planning your garden, incorporate crop rotation principle to the extent possible. Group similar plants together and rotate them around the garden. Never plant brassicas (cabbages, broccoli, kale, etc.) in the same area and avoid planting potatoes where corn has grown, since it could be subject to European corn borer infestation next year. If you plan on expanding your garden or starting a new one, now is the time to prepare the soil, especially if you are expanding into the lawn. Cover the new area with newspaper, wet the paper, and add layers of material such as peat moss, leaves, lawn clippings and compost. As a final step, cover the area with black plastic. In the spring the sod and other materials will have decomposed and the soil will be ready for tilling.
Planting: Certain crops such as garlic will produce earlier and better if planted in the fall. Some plants including onions can be sown in the fall, but onion sets should be planted in the spring. Plant cover crops such as winter wheat and other ‘green manure’ plants in bare areas of the garden to protect your valuable topsoil from erosion, and also to add nitrogen to the soil. Cover crop seed may be difficult to find in garden supply stores, but it is readily available from organic seed companies. Simply scatter the seed over the prepared soil and rake in lightly.
Mulching: Mulch the garlic and perennials such as rhubarb with straw or some other mulch.
Inspecting: Protecting your plants from the rigors of winter also means keeping hungry animals away. Now is the time to inspect fences for weak spots or holes so that deer do not feed on your plants, shrubs, and trees this winter. Specimen trees and shrubs can also be protected around the base to prevent damage by smaller mammals and rodents.
After all the fall garden chores have been completed, or when it is time for a break, visit some of the area’s farms, orchards, and farm stands. Here you will be able to choose from a wide array of apples, cider, pears, grapes, broccoli, Brussel sprouts, cabbage, and storage vegetables such as onions, potatoes, squashes, carrots, and ,of course, the ever popular pumpkin. Keep an eye out for unusual or heirloom produce. You might spot the Cox’s Pippin, an heirloom apple that dates back to before the American Revolution, and perhaps you may be able to snap up the last corn or peaches of the season. As you enjoy the fall harvest, you can be confident that finishing the final critical tasks involved in tucking your garden in for the winter will make your work easier in the spring and help next year’s harvest become even bigger and better.
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