How to Plant a Southern Fall Vegetable Garden

How to Plant A Southern Fall Vegetable Garden

If you live in the right growing zone, you may be lucky enough to grow not only a traditional spring vegetable garden, but also a fall vegetable garden. This applies to gardeners in the South, who are blessed with a long growing period.

If this is the year you’re going to finally find time to get that southern fall vegetable garden in the ground, enjoy this article with tips and tricks for ensuring you have a bountiful crop!

First, you’ll want to get your garden area ready.

Assuming you are using the same garden space you used for your spring garden, pull out all dead plant material, as well as any weeds that may have sprung up.

If you have plants that are still healthy and producing, by all means, leave them. I’ve harvested tomatoes and chilies well into January here in Austin. These plants definitely prefer and do better when it’s hotter, but established plants will sometimes keep on giving through the cooler months.

Taking care around any live plants, work some additional organic compost into your beds. Many vegetables are heavy feeders and you’ll want to replenish the soil. You may want to add an amendment such as blood meal, as well.

Plants that will often do well in southern fall vegetable gardens include:

• Beans
• Beets
• Broccoli
• Brussels Sprouts
• Cabbage
• Carrots
• Cauliflower
• Celery
• Cilantro
• Collards

• Daikon
• Endive (Belgian and curly)
• Kale
• Kohlrabi
• Leeks
• Lettuce
• Mustard
• Onions
• Parsley
• Parsnips

• Peas
• Pumpkins
• Radishes
• Rutabaga
• Salsify
• Shallots
• Spinach
• Winter Squash
• Swiss Chard
• Turnips

Engineering precisely when to plant requires a bit of math. Ugh, I know.

First, you’ll want to determine when the average first frost date is