by Lisa Giroday, Sandra Lopuch and Sam Philips | While we realize that it’s been mostly gloriously sunny and hot outside of late and that you’ve been battling aphids, watering, harvesting, and scoring from the market, we have something extremely important to tell you: The time is now for getting seeds and starts in the ground for Fall/Winter and early Spring harvests. We are in the thick of it right now, and the planting windows are starting to close!

But what to plant for winter? Well, though it might be too late for parsnips and carrots, there’s still plenty of stuff that you can get into the ground. While crops like beets, carrots, peas, onions, broccoli, lettuce, and bush beans are being harvested and are finished their life cycles, there are now empty spots emerging in the garden for hardy winter greens such as mustards, spinach, arugula, mizuna and others. Get your Fall lettuce in the ground as well – last chance! While they will turn to mush by frost, you can still reap the benefits until then. And if you feel you might need more chard and kale over the winter, put some transplants in the ground (it’s too late to seed). One of our favourite starts for this transitional time of year is purple sprouting broccoli. It stays dormant in the garden until January and then resumes growth for a February-April harvest. You’ll be happy you planted some after consuming all of those root veggies all winter!

And speaking of root veggies, if you missed the beet-planting window and still need to fulfill your root veggie quota, it’s not too late to seed some radishes and turnips. It’s still fair game to also seed Fall peas and transplant Winter cabbage. And finally, cool-loving herbs like cilantro, parsley, and chervil can be seeded now, too. They’ll overwinter if we don’t get a harsh one. Just remember, it’s a good idea to add some compost before planting, and ensure the soil is moist enough for seed germination. Happy growing, gang!

THE VICTORY GARDENS ARCHIVE