It's slowly, very slowly, inching closer to autumn. The days are shorter, nights are longer, and temperatures are starting to cool down a couple of degrees (besides a few triple-digit days here and there). I know many of you are anticipating fall planting and want to get started as soon as possible; so are we! Oh boy, it would be nice to have all fall plants started at this point, but peppers and tomatoes are still producing. But luckily, you can get a bit of a head start on your planting, and we will soon have our autumn plants for sale at the farmers' market for those of you who would rather skip the germination process!
Yesterday on August 26th, we started planting some cool-weather crops (besides perennials, which we started a few weeks ago for autumn), and so can you if you prefer planting from seed yourself. But wait, there are some exceptions. Your best bet at this point would be to sow, like mentioned, perennial plants and/or plants that have a long "days 'til harvest" period. For example, if you look on the back of a seed packet, and it says, "60 days 'til harvest," chances are it will be perfectly fine to plant now because by the time 60 days passes, the weather should be dramatically cooler compared to our current temperatures. The goal is to ensure that the harvest period for your cool-weather crops will happen when the temperatures are preferred for the plant. A great example of an autumn crop to plant now would be brussel sprouts.
You definitely don't want to plant anything that only takes a month until harvest. Take lettuces as an example. By the time 30 days passes, it will still be pretty hot in zone 9, and the harvest won't be as good, especially if it bolts. So, definitely wait on plants that grow quickly.
Right now, we are selling a few plants (perennials) that will withstand the cold, but we plan to have autumn/winter plants for sale within the next few weeks. Be sure to stop by our farmers' market booth in the Visalia, California Sears' parking lot every Saturday from 8-11:30 a.m.!
P.S. More updates soon on fall planting.
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