I just finished planting. Actually, I still need to plunk a few plants into my straw bale garden experiment, but looking at the calendar I realized I need to start seeds for the fall harvest and make sure to avoid pests.

Although I love to plant in the late summer to enjoy vegetables as late into the season as possible, starting plants such as cabbage, broccoli, and other brassicas always catches me off guard.

But not this year!

This week I’m starting cabbage (a small, short season variety), broccoli, and kohlrabi. I’ll start them just as I would in the early spring, by seeding them in potting soil and keeping them evenly moist until they’re ready to put into the ground. That’s the hard part, since everything dries out much faster at this time of the year.

Once they’re big enough, I suspect this crop is going to go in the area where my Sugar Ann snap peas are now seeded, as they’ll be finished and pulled out when it’s time to plant the seedlings.

Avoid Pests in Fall Harvest Crops

One of the biggest benefits of a fall harvest planting, besides fresh crops late into the season, is the absence of pests.

The cabbage moths are not nearly as prevalent, so there isn’t much of an issue with the cabbage moth larvae. That’s a big plus, because I’m the first to admit that it’s hard for me to stay on top of them with the diatomaceous earth. It works well, as long as you’re a dedicated duster. There are also fewer leaf eating pests—such as flea beetles—to attack the spinach, lettuce, and other greens.

Starting Seeds in Late Summer

Besides starting the plants now, I have to assess my seed situation to make sure I have the seeds for the other veggies I want to plant. If I don’t, there still might be time to pick up a few packets locally, or I could always place a late season order with one of the mail order companies. Even if I don’t use everything now, the seeds will last until next spring without a problem. I need to make sure I have enough carrots, beets, spinach, lettuce (lots of different varieties), peas, and Swiss chard. The carrots might be the hard one, since it seems pretty much everyone is out of them.

To determine when you’re going to plant, you have to do a little math. Take a look at your seed packet. If it says it matures in 50 days, pull out your calendar and count backwards from your first average frost date, then add at least a week. While the weather is certainly conducive to growth early in the season, the biggest challenge is the waning day length. After the summer solstice, the nights grow longer and longer each day, and the sun has far less intensity. This is increased by using the floating row cover, as it reduces the amount of light reaching the plants even more. This slows growth so you have to give the plants a little more time to develop so you can harvest before the deep cold hits and avoid pests at the same time.

So this is why I’m starting seeds now. And if you wish to enjoy all of the benefits of a fall garden, I suggest you grab your seeds and potting soil and do the same.