Fall Garden Tips: Counting Backwards

The last article focused on relationship-based nutrition practices in the work place. Good nutrition begins with good food. There are many benefits to gardening in the work place. Many Northerners have a vitamin D deficiency, so getting outdoors for a few minute each day offers health benefits. A break in routine may also increase productivity. However the reasons go much deeper.

The goal is to improve employee resilience and organizational sustainability. How does gardening help? Consider the garden a training exercise for those who might not have any idea how to garden. In addition, to the social benefits, if integrated wtih a relationship-based nutrition program, produce can be used to make vegetable trays, salads and nutritious soups at work. Employees that have good eating habits are less prone to snack on junk food. A healthy workforce is a more resilient work force. In addition to enjoying better health, they may be more inclined to garden at home.

For nonprofits that already provide garden space, the next step is to encourage planting a Fall garden.  This is the perfect time. It just requires basic subtraction. Look at the back of a  package of leafy greens such as lettuce. The package gives the number of days to maturity. Our average frost date is approximately mid-October, but it does vary considerably. For an optimal Fall harvest choose a harvest date, then count back the number of days and add 10%. Lets use pole peas as our example. Most pole peas take about 70 days to maturity, add ten percent and count 77 days to the desired harvest date. . If the desire is to begin harvesting September 16th, peas should be planted today. Peas will continue until frost. Any root crop or leafy vegetable can be planted for Fall. Broccoli and chinese cabbage and bok choy are also good prospects. The 4th of July is considered the last planting date for short season potatoes. Parsnips and rutabegas take 90 days to mature. Carrot packages say 70 days, but often need 90 days in this climate. Now is the time to plant them. Full grown carrots can be harvested directly from the garden for months. This is also a good time to plant Fall beets. Leafy vegetables such as kale, chard, lettuce, spinanch, and mesclun are very easy to grow. Kale and chard often winter over. Lettuce, spinach and mesclun  can be sewn now and every two weeks until mid-August for a continuous supply.

Lets revisit the concept of subtraction. Begin with the harvest date, then look at the seed packet. Count backwards from date you want to harvest to determine when seeds should be planted. Since mesclun takes about 30 days, if we want a harvest date of Sept. 1st, we would count back 30 days +10% or 33 days to determine our planting date. If we want to harvest Chinese cabbage on September 10th, count back 60 days + 10% or 66 days. Just tamp tiny seeds into the soil with the back of a spade. For slightly larger seeds such as radishes, only cover them twice the depth of the seed. Seeds that are planted too deep may not germinate. Keep seeds moist so they don't dry out during hot summer days by misting them well 2 or 3 times a day. If seeds come to the top of the soil surface, just poke them back down. It's that simple. By Fall it could look like this