Cool Season Gardening
Row Cover Fabric Works Like a Blanket For Your Plants
When the weather gets cold, we pull on sweaters or button our coats. The extra insulation holds our bodies’ heat inside the protective coverings. The same principle works for garden plants. Like a coat for the garden, a floating row … Continue reading
Which Veggies for Which Season?
Because a vegetable needs either warm or cool weather, crops sort themselves into two distinct categories: cool season (for spring and fall) and warm season (for summer). Planting in the proper season is the first step to a bountiful garden. … Continue reading
These Vegetables Take a Chill
Hardy vegetables tolerate hard frosts (usually 25 to 28 degrees F). They taste best in cool weather, making them perfect for fall harvests. See the USDA Freeze Map for the approximate date of the first freeze in your area. This will give … Continue reading
The Secret Life of Broccoli
A closer look at how broccoli develops will help you grow perfect heads. Broccoli is temperature sensitive. When transplants sit exposed to cold below 40 degrees for a week or two, they suffer chilling injury. This triggers heads to form … Continue reading
So What Happens During a Freeze?
When a freeze is predicted, what happens to your fall vegetables? Perhaps nothing, depending on the length and depth of the freeze. If the weather brings just a frost, the flavor of greens actually improves. Hardy spinach, collards, and kale … Continue reading
How to Plant Cole Crops Step-by-Step
For broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, cabbage, collards, kohlrabi, and kale. Step 1 Slip the plant from its plastic cup or pack by turning the vessel upside down and gently prodding, not pulling, the plant out so as not to break … Continue reading
Herbs in Fall? Yes. Some Love Cool Weather
Fall is a prime time for the hardiest herbs; they often do better in mild winter areas when planted now. You can put an assortment of your favorite cool-weather herbs by the kitchen door–all in one container–for a pinch of … Continue reading
Harvest Guide for Cool Weather Veggies
Pick your cool-season vegetables at the peak of perfection using these guidelines. Broccoli When you see a head beginning to form in the center of the plant, check its growth every day. Ideally, you harvest broccoli while the tiny buds … Continue reading
Fall Gardens Make Sense
Take advantage of cooler weather to grow a spring garden in the fall. Broccoli, kale, spinach, lettuce, and other early spring crops grow well in the cooler weather of fall, and you’ll like the benefits: fewer insects, less sweat, a … Continue reading
Collard Country
Union Springs, Alabama, the home office of Bonnie Plants, is also the heart of what you might call Collard Country. This time of year gardens are dotted with the leafy greens waiting for the next frost to sweeten the newest … Continue reading
