It’s time to take down your tomatoes. It may still be a little warm where you are, and yet, tomato time is over. But there are five or six crops you can plant after tomato season and still get a reasonable harvest before Thanksgiving.
Root vegetables are your best bet
Short crops (ones that grow in less than 45 days) are the most likely to be successful in the fall. Start with radishes, which grow in 30 days, and plant multiple varieties. You should also grow a few rows of beets: golden, red, Chioggia. Get turnips in the ground too, both the white Japanese and giant American variety. You can also get rows and rows of carrots germinated. If you plant Little Finger, any Nantes variety, or Parisian Market variety, you will likely get them before winter, but your larger keeper carrots will be able to grow all winter and will be waiting in Spring.
Peas are meant for fall
You’ll get a narrower window for peas right now than you do in spring, so I recommend choosing bush type peas that grow three feet or less tall. There are plenty to choose from, and you should direct sow them now.
Grow all the greens
Plant bok choy, which only does well this time of year, and then plant more in a week. Spinach will also grow prolifically right now, as will chard. You might get lucky and be able to get chard to overwinter. Greens like mizuna also do well this time of year. Kale will likely overwinter, so get it in the ground.
Don’t overlook kohlrabi
Kohlrabi is a garden gem. First, it’s adorable looking in your garden, like small purple or green satellites; and second, it’s great raw or cooked. Shave it into a slaw or slice thick rounds and grill them. Either way, Kohlrabi is delicious, and you can get it in now and harvest it before the end of the year.
