It’s time to plant your garden for fall

Believe it or not, it really is time to plant a fall vegetable garden. I know, I know, it is hot right now and may be for some time. However, those cold hardy plants need to germinate in the warm soil now. By the time cooler weather arrives, the plants will be growing.

I am sure you are saying, “What do I plant? I thought gardening was for spring only.”

Well, the WSU Extension website lists several vegetables that will grow well until the first frost arrives. It is possible to gather various fresh garden vegetables during September and October – depending on what you like and where you live in the Columbia Basin.

Here’s a list of fall veggies to consider: beets, broccoli, cabbage, carrots, green onion, kale, lettuce, peas, radishes, spinach, Swiss chard, turnips.

According to, Kris Nesse, one of the WSU Grant-Adams Master Gardener specialists, most of our locations are “in Zone 6B, with smaller pockets of Zones 6A and 7A. You can check your own backyard using the USDA’s interactive map: http://planthardiness.ars.usda.gov/PHZMWeb/InteractiveMap.aspx or through WSU’s website: http://county.wsu.edu/grant-adams/Pages/default.aspx.”

According to Nesse, “The PHZM indicates statistically when first and last frosts occur.”

Looking at the PHZM interactive map, note that for Zones 6A, 6B, and 7A the first frost date is Oct. 15 and the last frost date is April 15. So, how do you plant for the fall?

Here is a rule-of-thumb planting guide with the fall frost date of Oct. 15 in mind:

Start with the fall frost date of Oct. 15.

Count back the total number of days from seeding to harvest. This will vary among the vegetable varieties you plant. Since snow peas take 70 days to harvest, I have seeded them already. (If an early frost kills them, I will plow them under.)

Then count back another 14 days to account for cooler fall temperatures and shorter hours of daylight, both which slow down plant growth. Err on the side having veggies to harvest by planting earlier if you wish. I forgot to do that last fall.

However, you may shorten the 14-day leeway if you really want to push limits. If you are comfortable with that, go for it.

The result will be the estimated day to plant the vegetable seeds for a fall harvest.

This fall, radishes, carrots, Swiss chard, and snow peas appeal to me. Last fall, I put out fava beans too late and, of course, they did not make it – except for one plant that is thriving even now (see photo).

The beans were supposed to be cold hardy, but only this one was both cold hardy and suffered the weight of snow on it. I will plant fava beans next spring, not this fall. Live and learn.

Prepare the garden area just as you did for spring – turn the soil, add mulch and fertilizer as needed. Plant with extra space between seeds to allow good air circulation between the seedlings to cut down on molds and other diseases that come with wetter and cooler weather. Thin if more space is needed between plants. Harvest when ready.

For gardening questions contact the WSU Grant-Adams Master Gardeners at the WSU Grant County Extension office at 754-2011, ext. 4313 or Email ga.mgvolunteers@wsu.edu. Online reference services are available at https://extension.wsu.edu/grant. Sealed samples may be brought for identification to the WSU Extension Office, 1525 E. Wheeler Road, Moses, Monday-Friday, 8-5 p.m.