As the dog days of summer wind down, some gardeners might want to kick up their feet and rest on their laurels. But, there are a variety of ways to prolong the growing season and boost your harvest. Here are five ways to get more from your late-summer garden:
1. Second Sowings
One of the easiest ways to extend your harvest is to make secondary sowings of your crops. That is, plant another round of fast-growing veggies before the frost date.
How to Implement:
- Crop Selection: Choose quick-growing crops like radish or beans.
- Timing: Ensure that these secondary crops are planted well on time so that they become mature before the first frost.
Benefits:
- Continuous Harvest: If you stagger plantings, the result is that the vegetables do not all ripen at once; hence you are able to enjoy fresh produce for a longer period.
- HIGHEST YIELD: Make the best possible use of your garden space by continuous replanting.
2. Use Microclimates
Microclimates are small parts of your garden that have different growing conditions, usually influenced by sunlight exposure, wind protection, or the structures that influence temperature.
How to Implement:
- Identify Microclimates: Watch the garden to find spots that stay warmer or cooler.
- Optimal Planting: Grow heat-loving plants in warm locations, and the cool-season crops under partial shade or in shadier, cooler places.
Benefits:
- Extended Growing Season: Microclimates can allow you to extend your growing season, providing ideal conditions for certain plants.
3. Physical Barriers
You can use physical barriers like cloches, row covers, or cold frames to help crops withstand cold temperatures and therefore continue to grow and mature as temperatures otherwise drop lower and lower.
How to Implement:
- Cover Selection: Choose appropriate covers for your plants, such as cloches for individual plants or row covers for larger areas.
- Timing: These barriers should be installed just before the first frost, to provide additional warmth.
Benefits:
- Frost protection: In the case of more developed plants, season extension is achieved through frost protection from early frost.
- Heat Retention: That retains heat in the ground and the air around the plants, stimulating their growth.
4. Soil Temperature Modulation
Soil temperatures are critical for plant growth. The use of mulches and strategic plant arrangements can be applied to maintain soil temperatures at an optimum.
How to Implement:
- Mulching: Spread a layer of mulch around your plants to insulate the soil.
- Grouping of Containers: Group all containers together to reduce the exposed area to the minimum possible and retain heat.
Benefits:
- Better Growth: Kept the soil warmer for a longer time, allowing plants to grow well.
- Not So Stressed: Protects plants from temperature fluctuations.
5. Select Cold-Tolerant Varieties
Some plant varieties can resist cold weather better than others. Selecting these can guarantee a successful harvest late in the season.
How to Implement:
- Varietal Research: Seek plant varieties that have been deliberately bred to be cold hardy.
- Planting: Sow these cultivars in late summer in order to benefit from their capacity for standing cooler temperatures.
Benefits:
- Extended Harvest: Cold-tolerant varieties can continue producing even as temperatures drop.
- Resilience: Such plants are rather rugged and comparatively more resistant to cold-induced stress.
Bonus Tip: Understory Crops
As the summer crops begin to decline you can plant your fall vegetables under them. The dying summer crops give shade and protection for the new seedlings.
How to Implement:
- Timing: Plant fall crops a couple of weeks before the summer crops are completely used up.
- Plant Selection: Choose autumn crops that will benefit from shading provided by larger, mature plants.
Benefits:
- Extended Growing Season: Start the fall crops earlier; thus, extended growing season.
- Space efficient: Maximizes garden space usage throughout the year.
Make sure to implement these strategies in your late summer garden for a fruitful fall.
