(ARA) – Your vegetable garden has supplied your family with flavorful, nutritious fare throughout the summer. But the arrival of autumn doesn’t mean your days of enjoying your garden are over. If you plant now for the future and prepare for the coming season, it’s possible to enjoy a few last tasty morsels from your garden and ensure next spring’s landscape will be dazzling.

Here are a few tips to ensure your fall harvest is as fresh and fabulous as possible:

Plant a bit of fall flavor

Add a few short-season vegetables to your garden for fresh-from-the-field flavor this fall. Simply count the days from planting to the average first fall frost to determine how many growing days are left in your area. Select vegetables that will mature and can be harvested in that time. Leaf lettuce, spinach, mustard greens, radishes and carrots grow quickly, tolerate cool weather and are great additions to your fall cuisine.

Get these vegetables off to a good start with a side dressing of low nitrogen fertilizer like Milorganite. Incorporate it into the soil prior to planting or sprinkle a narrow band along the row of plants. “This organic nitrogen will provide needed nutrients without damaging the tender seedlings. It is safe to use on all your edible and ornamental plants,” says Melinda Myers, nationally known horticulturist and author.

Cover ‘em up
Protect tender vegetables like tomatoes and peppers from the first few fall frosts. Floating row covers, cloches and cold frames can protect tender plants from frost. Or harvest green tomatoes before the killing frost and finish ripening them indoors. Spread them out on heavy paper or wrap them in newspaper so the tomatoes don’t touch and store them in a 65-degree location. They will ripen over the next few weeks. Speed up the process by moving a few tomatoes to a bright, warm location a few days before they are needed. And don’t leave green tomatoes behind. They taste great fried or made into relish and other tasty treats.

Plant some spring color
A fall planting of daffodils, grape hyacinths and other long-lived bulbs can provide many springs of beauty. Prepare the soil and add a low nitrogen slow release fertilizer like Milorganite to the soil. “This organic source of nitrogen releases needed nutrients including phosphorous and potassium from the soil without promoting unwanted fall growth,” according to Myers.

Give them a boost
Don’t forget about your trees. As the temperatures cool, and even after trees lose their leaves, tree roots are in their most active growth period. Fertilize trees in need of a nutrient boost about one month after the first killing frost but before the soil freezes. Use Milorganite to encourage balanced growth without the risk of damaging the roots. The organic source of nitrogen is slow release and stays in the soil. The non-staining iron is available to plants no matter the pH. So, you can give stressed trees a boost without encouraging excess growth or incurring root damage.

Prep your lawn for winter
Help your lawn recover from the heat and drought of summer and prepare it for winter with fall fertilization. University research has shown that fall fertilization is the most beneficial practice for home lawns. Less disease problems and slower weed growth mean your lawns — not the pests — benefit from the nutrients. Fall fertilization also helps lawns recover from the stresses of summer because it encourages deep roots and denser growth that can better compete with weeds, and tolerate disease and insects.

“Northern gardeners can follow the holiday schedule and fertilize Labor Day and Halloween. Southern gardeners should make their last fall fertilization at least 30 days before the lawn goes dormant or the average first killing frost to avoid winter kill,” recommends Myers. Use a low nitrogen slow release fertilizer, for best results.

Tuck them in for winter
A good, long drink and bit of winter protection goes a long way to help struggling and less hardy plants through the winter ahead. A blanket of evergreen boughs, straw or marsh hay applied after the ground freezes will prevent frost heaving and early sprouting, and increase the chance of winter survival for bulbs and perennials.

Wind breaks and mulch can reduce winter drying and death of broadleaf and other evergreens. Water these and other plantings thoroughly before the ground freezes to increase overwintering success.

Add a layer of wood chip mulch on the soil surrounding trees and shrubs to moderate soil temperatures, conserve moisture and reduce weed competition. Keep mulch off tree trunks and shrub stems.

Courtesy of ARAcontent

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2. Green Gardening: Save Time, Money and the Environment
3. How to make the most of your fall harvest
4. Fall Vegetable Gardening Ideas
5. Indoor Gardening Supplies Can Help Jump Start Fall Harvest

Tags: fall gardening, fall harvest, fall vegetable gardening

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