Planting Fall Vegetables

Spinach loves cool soil and weather, so it's a great fall-planting option. You can plant spinach in rows or you can broadcast the seed. Broadcasting takes less work because you don't have to create rows or furrows.

• If you are working in an established bed, you don't need to till the soil. In fact, studies have shown that tilling can often bring up the seeds of weeds living deep in the ground, and they will germinate in your garden bed.
  
• Use a rake to smooth out the soil and to break up large dirt clods. You don't need to turn the soil over very deeply because spinach has a shallow root system.
  
• To broadcast the seeds, just grab a handful of seeds and gently toss them onto the planting area.
  
• Using a rake, gently cover the seeds.
  
• Water the area with a light mist or spray. Don't let your soil dry out in between watering or the roots won't develop properly.
  
• When you sow by broadcasting, you have to thin out your plants as they grow because they are not in uniform rows with space in between. Whenever individual plants start to touch, thin them back to about two inches apart, and when those plants begin to touch, thin them back to about four inches apart.
  
• Spinach growth starts slowly and then accelerates during the final three weeks before harvest.

Your newly sown spinach will have small shoots in just a couple of weeks. But until then, the seeds are very tempting for birds. Cover them with bird netting for protection. You will be able to harvest some tender leaves in about four to six weeks, but don't harvest the whole plant. Through winter the plants will fall dormant and come alive again in the spring.

A beautiful and unique plant that can also be planted for a late fall harvest is the pansy. The colorful flowers are edible--use them in salads or as cake decorations. They will continue to bloom, even when there's snow on the ground. To plant pansies:

• Lightly turn your soil over. Pansies need rich, well-drained soil and sunny conditions.
  
• Pansies are sold as transplants in the fall. When taking transplants out of the package, inspect the root system. If it looks root-bound, cut off about 1/2 inch from the bottom and then gently loosen the remaining roots.
  
• Plant them deep enough so that the root ball is covered and the plant is above ground.
  
• Don't fertilize pansies in the fall because it promotes soft growth that is more susceptible to damage.
  
• To keep the plant vibrant through winter, pick the flowers throughout the season to use in salads, etc.
  

Another good cool-season crop, garlic grows underground, so it's less susceptible to birds and can also repel squirrels and chipmunks when planted next to your fall bulbs.

Garlic doesn't grow from seeds. Instead you use actual cloves of garlic. Although you could use garlic bought from the grocery store, garlic bought from your local garden center, farmers' market or specialty catalogue offers much larger bulbs and better flavor. In addition, garlic from a grocery store may have been treated to prevent sprouting.

• Before planting add compost material to the soil. Garlic will be in the ground growing for about nine months, so it needs lots of nutrients to keep growing.
  
• Break bulbs apart by separating the cloves from the bulbs the day of planting. If they are separated any longer they tend to dry out.
  
• If you nick the clove and expose the flesh underneath while breaking them apart, don't plant it--cook it! Nicked bulbs are far more susceptible to disease.
  
• Plant the cloves in rows a foot apart and 4 to 6 inches apart within the rows for good bulb size and good yield.
  
• To plant, hold the bulb in your hand tip up and push it into the soil with your thumb. Push it in as far down as your thumb will go.

An easy way to plant garlic is to put all the cloves in the ground and then lightly walk back down the row to tamp the soil back over your garlic. This is one time when you don't have to be careful about stepping on your rows!