Frost is here and that marks the end of the summer gardening season. I hate to say good bye to those plants that have fed me all summer, but believe it or not there are a lot of gardening related tasks to do in the fall. Cabbage, broccoli, lettuce, greens, carrots, and onions do well until a hard freeze arrives. In fact a little frost actually improves their flavor. Since the frost is here it is a little late to start new plants now, but plan ahead next year and plant these 6-8 weeks before the first frost date. Speaking of frost, as a gardener you should know the average first and last frost date for your area. Your gardening life revolves around frost.
So, what else can you do in the fall? The parts of your garden you are not using now should be put to bed. You can plant a winter cover crop such as buckwheat, clover, vetch, or turnips. Let them grow and plow them under this spring to enrich your soil. This is referred to as "green manure". Sometimes in lieu of a cover crop I spread leaves over my garden and leave them through the winter. They will be tilled in early in the spring.
Fall is also a good time to plant fruit trees and ornamental bushes such as azaleas, lilac, etc. They are not as readily available in the fall as the spring, but if you can get them, now is a good time to plant. if you have pine trees rake the pine needles as they fall and mulch around your flower beds, especially around the acid loving plants such as azaleas and camellias.
Well I had better let you go get busy.
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