OK, I admit that one of the last things on my mind is planting a fall crop of veggies.
It’s all I can do to keep up with the zucchini, beans and pumpkins that the missus planted. They have grown so much I can hardly get to the garden to plant anything even if I wanted to. But the reality is that this heat wave we’re experiencing is going to come to an end. The nights are going to start cooling and the days will continue to get shorter, which are all triggers for fall crops to germinate and start growing.
As we harvest our summer crops of onions, garlic, beets, carrots, zucchini and beans we will have new space for planting other veggies and it’s important to get them in early enough so they can get established before the soils get too cold for root growth.
Late July and early August are the perfect time to sprout cabbage, broccoli and chard, and to direct sow any of the root crops like carrots, radishes and beets. Garden centers will start bringing in packs of lettuce, cabbage and broccoli in early August, so if you don’t want to mess with starting seeds the packs are a great way to go.
When planting new crops it is essential to amend the soil with compost and enrich it with an organic fertilizer. Whatever was growing in that space consumed the nutrients in the soil when it was growing and removed them when it was harvested with the plant.
E.B. Stone Flower and Veggie Mix is a fabulous compost to add to the soil because it has been enriched with aged chicken manure, earthworm castings, bat guano, kelp meal and feather meal. It’s the full meal deal in my book and easy to work with for the small veggie garden. If you are lucky enough to have a large garden, I suggest trying Bailey’s compost out in Snohomish or Cedar Grove Compost in Everett. Both of these are an excellent soil amendment and are rich in soil microorganisms, an essential part of a healthy soil.
While the aforementioned composts will add nutrients to your soil it will still need fertilizer. Compost is mostly a soil amendment designed to help the soil retain moisture, improve drainage and enhance the overall life of the soil. Fertilizer is a concentrated source of food for the plant to use as it grows.
Organic fertilizers are best because they release slowly, meaning the plant gets just the right amount of food it needs. The rest remains in the soil for later use instead of moving down through the soil and into the water table and ultimately into a nearby lake or the Salish Sea. As an added bonus, organic fertilizers like E.B. Stone Tomato and Veggie Food have been fortified with soil microorganisms like mycorrhizae, essential to healthy soil.
Even if you aren’t into planting a fall garden you should at least consider planting garlic. It is probably the simplest veggie to plant because all you have to do — once you’ve prepped the soil — is merely break your head of garlic into individual cloves and plant them a couple of inches under the soil, 6 inches apart, and forget about them.
Steve Smith is owner of Sunnyside Nursery in Marysville and can be reached online at info@sunnysidenursery.net.
Fall veggies
A class on growing fall veggies is 10 a.m. Aug. 1 at Sunnyside Nursery. The free class is put on by Mary Ann and Andy Sudkamp, who grow vegetables year-round in Everett. For more information, go to sunnysidenursery.net.
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