So I had a bit of an issue with the Fall garden. My Summer garden keeps going. If you care about what wrenches got chucked into the gears then you can read it here. With the fall of my Fall Garden, I need a new strategy to keep my garden productive for a few more months.

Assumptions of the Plan

We have relatively mild winters until sometime in mid to late January. This nasty trend peaks around Groundhog’s Day and ends around Washington’s Birthday. Roughly 6 weeks of really nasty winter. It is not uncommon for my Swiss Chard to be around at Christmas.

If this pattern continues this means that things that are not tender will do ok up to this period. I have a good 6 week minimum and more likely 8-10 weeks of season left for my tender plants.

After checking my long term forecast, I have a bit more than 2 weeks of sustained over 90F(~32.2C) temps left in the season before it fails.

So I have an idea of what plants I can work with and how long I have to place my bets in the game of First Frost Dates.

My Plan for my Fall Garden

The basics of the plan is to convert my old 4×12 raised bed to a Fall garden bed.

Currently, I am going to attempt some pickling cucumbers. They are riding on the edge of the Frost Date but there is a reasonable chance so long as I pull out the tomatoes and cucumbers there to get them in the ground the moment they are ready. Besides I would really like to have some fermented pickles and slicers just don’t do the job.

Next, I have Red Romaine and Tango Lettuces that will be a large chunk of the bed. If I can get enough plants into the ground, then even with the slow growth rate, I should be able to pull salads in a cut and come again approach regularly.

The Tango lettuce was an absolute beast in the garden during the winter. We had some of the worst cold last year that I have ever seen and these plants rode it out. They apparently have an anti-freeze that they pump into the leaves when cold. It makes them all mushy and floppy. When it warms up the anti-freeze goes away and it is right back to crispy.

After the lettuces, I want to diversify my greens by adding Spinach, Cress, Arugula, Sorrel, Purslane and Swiss Chard.

Outside of the Swiss Chard, I have never tried any of these in the Fall. The Swiss Chard regularly will go to Christmas before the cold forces it to death or dormancy.

Next we have herbs. I will be planting some Cilantro and attempting for the first time some Chervil. Neither of these like the heat so I am hoping to get a couple of months of these herbs. I have heard of Chervil but have never tasted it.

Beets, Leeks and Rutabagas finish up the core of the initial planting. The beets and rutabagas are a reasonable chance. The leeks, I have less faith in. They have a long season to grow and while they say to start the transplant in February, I am not sure how the adult plant will handle those temps.

Me being me, I am going to attempt to challenge the season by growing a round of various radishes when the cucumbers give up the ghost.

As time is short so I will be cheating and using a heat mat to make the soil about 85F to speed up germination of everything. The seedlings will be a bit stressed out but my experience is that it does not harm them too much.

It seems like one of those plans that will fall on its face in failure and misery. Obviously, that mean I made it.

Wild Card

So, I have a trick that I might be able to pull out of my pocket for this late season garden. I have designed a hoop house to place on the frame. I am considering building it. If you followed me for any length, you realize my plans have a history of lackluster results and just plane DOHs.

I have tried building hoop houses in the past but they ended up more trouble then they are worth. We have too much wind to attempt a regular permenant mount hoop house. I need something temporary that can be removed when the winds returns in the Spring. It needs to be easy to work with and store in the main season. These are been difficult issues to overcome as every solution is not really attractive.

With the marvels of 3D printing, I have the power to potential fix it. I just have to fix my printer first. Oh my famous last words of a planned project.