It’s time to start thinking about fall veggies

  • By Steve Smith Special to The Herald
  • Tuesday, July 28, 2015 5:47pm
  • Life

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.

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Life

Brandon Hailey of Cytrus, center, plays the saxophone during a headlining show at Madam Lou’s on Friday, Dec. 29, 2023 in Seattle, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Lynnwood-based funk octet Cytrus has the juice

Resilience and brotherhood take center stage with ‘friends-first’ band.

FILE - In this April 11, 2014 file photo, Neko Case performs at the Coachella Music and Arts Festival in Indio, Calif. Fire investigators are looking for the cause of a fire on Monday, Sept. 18, 2017, that heavily damaged Case’s 225-year-old Vermont home. There were no injuries, though a barn was destroyed. It took firefighters two hours to extinguish the blaze. (Photo by Scott Roth/Invision/AP, File)
Music, theater and more: What’s happening in Snohomish County

Singer-songwriter Neko Case, an indie music icon from Tacoma, performs Sunday in Edmonds.

Sarah Jean Muncey-Gordon puts on some BITCHSTIX lip oil at Bandbox Beauty Supply on Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2024, in Langley, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Bandbox Beauty was made for Whidbey Island locals, by an island local

Founder Sarah Muncey-Gordon said Langley is in a renaissance, and she’s proud to be a part of it.

Dominic Arizona Bonuccelli
Tangier’s market boasts piles of fruits, veggies, and olives, countless varieties of bread, and nonperishables, like clothing and electronics.
Rick Steves on the cultural kaleidoscope of Tangier in Morocco

Walking through the city, I think to myself, “How could anyone be in southern Spain — so close — and not hop over to experience this wonderland?”

chris elliott.
Vrbo promised to cover her rental bill in Hawaii, so why won’t it?

When Cheryl Mander’s Vrbo rental in Hawaii is uninhabitable, the rental platform agrees to cover her new accommodations. But then it backs out. What happened?

Byrds co-founder Roger McGuinn, seen here in 2013, will perform April 20 in Edmonds. (Associated Press)
Music, theater and more: What’s happening in Snohomish County

R0ck ‘n’ Roll Hall of Famer Roger McGuinn, frontman of The Byrds, plans a gig in Edmonds in April.

Mother giving in to the manipulation her daughter fake crying for candy
Can children be bribed into good behavior?

Only in the short term. What we want to do is promote good habits over the course of the child’s life.

Speech Bubble Puzzle and Discussion
When conflict flares, keep calm and stand your ground

Most adults don’t like dissension. They avoid it, try to get around it, under it, or over it.

The colorful Nyhavn neighborhood is the place to moor on a sunny day in Copenhagen. (Cameron Hewitt)
Rick Steves: Embrace hygge and save cash in Copenhagen

Where else would Hans Christian Andersen, a mermaid statue and lovingly decorated open-face sandwiches be the icons of a major capital?

Last Call is a festured artist at the 2024 DeMiero Jazz Festival: in Edmonds. (Photo provided by DeMiero Jazz Festival)
Music, theater and more: What’s happening in Snohomish County

Jazz ensemble Last Call is one of the featured artists at the DeMiero Jazz Festival on March 7-9 in Edmonds.

Kim Helleren
Local children’s author to read at Edmonds Bookshop

Kim Helleren will read from one of her books for kids at the next monthly Story Time at Edmonds Bookshop on March 29.

Chris Elliott
Lyft surprises traveler with a $150 cleaning charge

Jared Hakimi finds a $150 charge on his credit card after a Lyft ride. Is that allowed? And will the charge stick?

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.