What keeps this Garden Lady peppy through the summer months? Planning for the fall, winter, and following spring. Outside of the fresh summer harvest, I love garden-fresh leafy greens most of all.

Here is a guide for planning fall planting.

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Step 1: For new gardens, go ahead the build them now, whether in-ground or above-ground. If you have an existing garden, it is time to revitalize it with an organic compost-based soil conditioner. My favorite is the Lady Bug brand revitalizer which you can find at Repotted.

Step 2: Plan your garden out based on what you want to eat. I always encourage people to try something they’ve never grown before. You might be surprised!

Step 3: Start planting. Right now, you can still plant tomatoes, peppers, southern peas, melons, cucumbers and winter and summer squash.

To give you a few ideas, below is my square-foot gardening plan for fall:

As we approach winter, usually we have our first freeze the first or second week of November, the tomatoes, peppers, beans and squash will die back. I replace them with root vegetables: carrots, beets and radishes. The root vegetables, leafy greens and herbs will keep growing through late Spring. Even though we are planting for the Fall, it is still a good idea to think about the next season.

Here is the Fall planting guide I use:

Plant in August
Beans
Corn
Peas
Pumpkins
Winter squash

Plant in September
Beans
Root vegetables (carrots, radishes, beets, parsnips, potatoes)
Broccoli
Cabbage
Cauliflower
Cucumber
Summer squash

Plant in October
Collard greens
Swiss chard
Garlic
Lettuces
Parsley

Plant in November
Mustard greens
Spinach
You can also plant more root vegetables, except potatoes.