Fall is the perfect time to plant vegetables and herbs

Right about now is the perfect time to plant Fall crops, including those that will be harvested this fall and winter, as well as though planted in fall for an early Spring harvest.

Although there may not be much time left until the first frost, you can still get a good harvest of certain crops in the next month or two. You'll have to be sure your seedlings get plenty of water, and they may need some extra protection from the sun, but once the plants are established, they'll thrive in the cool Fall weather.
Johnny's Fall Planting Calculator is a handy tool to help you figure out the dates crops need to be planted outside without season extension products. By growing your plants under row covers, your planting dates can be later than the calculator advises.  You can find different weights of row covers, from lightweight to heavy, that offer different levels of frost protection.  Some covers protect down to 20 degrees!
Some plants you can start growing in the Fall include Basil, beets, Broccoli Raab, broccoli, cabbage, carrots, lettuce, kale, endive, cilantro, onions, spinach, radishes, and Swiss Chard.  I like to plant lettuce in the Spring and again in the Fall.  All of these plants enjoy the cooler Fall temperatures and more regular rainfall.  Planting in the Fall also helps make me feel better about the summer crops that are starting to \fade.  I enjoy replacing those dried up and yellowing cucumber vines, summer squash plants, and other warm weather crops with bright green little seedlings that will fill the garden with color (and food) right up until the first frost, or even longer if you use row covers.  Plus working in the garden is even more pleasant when it's a comfy 60- 65 degrees, versus the 85- 90 degrees of July!  So get out there and get your hands dirty- you'll reap the rewards of your labor in no time!
Happy gardening! =)
-Michelle of CreativeCritters
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Gardening in NE Ohio can be a challenge!

I've lived in NE Ohio all my life, so you figure that by now I'd know what to expect when it comes to the weather and be able to plan my gardening activities accordingly.  Unfortunately the one thing about our weather that you can count on is that it's unpredictable!  I've been gardening for almost 15 years, and I've had to get pretty creative to help my plants thrive some years.  This year I started my Bell Peppers and Eggplants indoors a little earlier than usual because they take so long to produce vegetables.  A few weeks ago the weather was pretty nice so I started hardening them off by leaving them outside in a sheltered location for a few hours a day.  Gradually I increased the time outside and their sun exposure.  This allows them to adjust to outdoor conditions, which are quite different from what they've been growing in inside.  Calcifer enjoyed checking out the plants after I brought them in each day.
 
I've learned from experience that simply putting these plants in the garden with no additional protection is risky.  In Spring we have severe thunderstorm with heavy rain, gusty winds, and sometimes even hail.  I've lost many plants to the ravages of a Spring storm!  Wall O Waters have helped save many plants since I started using them.  They're plastic tubes you fill with water and they form a teepee over the young plants.  The water warms in the sun and protects the plants from cold weather by raising the temperature inside.  They also protect the plants from wind, heavy rain, and hail.
 
I set these out a week before I planted my peppers and eggplants so the soil would warm up.  Then when I was ready to put the plant in the ground I moved the Wall O Water and centered the plant.  These are two of my pepper plants.
 
Then I do something that may seem weird- I place a can with the top and bottom cut off over the plants and press it firmly into the dirt.
 
This acts as a protective collar and keeps cutworms and other crawling insects from attacking the young plants.  I've seen all my peppers wiped out overnight by cutworms.  They chew the plant at the base of the stem, and then just leave the toppled leaves.  For the last few years I've been saving cans and using them like this.  It really seems to help and allows the plants to safely grow big enough without being damaged.  Then I (carefully) put the Wall O Water back over the plant, making sure the bottom is flared out and the top is at least mostly closed.  This will help retain heat, and give added protection from heavy rain and hail. 
I closed this one up after I got the picture. ;-)
And since I planted these guys we've had temperatures down in the 30's, several bad thunderstorms with sleet and hail, and heavy sustained winds.  I checked on them every day (wading through inches of water between the raised beds) and was surprised to see that they actually look pretty good.  When I put my hand inside the Wall O Waters it feels much warmer than the outside temperature, and none of the teepees was blown over in the storms either.  If we can get a few days without rain I think the beds should drain and their roots won't get waterlogged.  I really did think it would be warmer by now: normal temps for this time of year are in the 50's and lower 60's.  But NE Ohio is anything but "normal" when it comes to weather!
-Michelle of CreativeCritters

Kozy Coats make useful season extenders for the garden

It's still pretty cold here, and I know many people won't be planting their tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, and other heat loving vegetables until May, or even June.  I like to get a jump on the season by using Kozy Coats, a teepee made of plastic tubes which you fill with water.  The sun heats the water, and the temperature inside the teepee is considerably warmer than the air temperature.  I have a raised beds, which warm faster than the rest of the soil, and I set out my Kozy Coats several weeks before I intend to plant my seedlings.  This allows the soil under the teepees to warm as well.  I bought the green ones quite a few years ago (these were actually called Wall 'O Waters), and aside from a few small punctures (don't use sharp tools around these!), they've held up quite well. You can get replacement tubes though, so that can make them last even longer.   I recently got some of the red ones because the red color is supposed to produce stronger, stockier tomato plants with higher yields.
This is where I'll plant my tomatoes, peppers, and eggplants.

 
And not only has it been a cold Spring so far, it's also been pretty wet.  And although I placed the garden where it gets the most sun, it's also in a low lying area, which means flooding.  That's another reason I built raised beds.  The beds themselves drain well, but the rows between can have a lot of water, making it difficult to work in the garden in Spring.  My solution this year (instead of patiently waiting for the rows to dry out) was to lay down several layers of newspaper topped by some old wooden boards.  Newspaper is good for the garden anyway, and earthworms love it.  Earthworm castings (worm poop) provide fertilizer for the plants and their tunnels help aerate the soil.  Before I rigged up this little walkway the water was up over the top of my shoes, and there was a lot of mud under that.

I'll use my soil thermometer to periodically check the soil temperature under the Kozy Coats, and when it's warm enough (hopefully within a few weeks) I'll plant my little vegetables in their warm coats.  This is what they look like in the house right now.  So far they're doing pretty well.
 
Before long I'll be munching on nice fresh tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, beans, and more fresh from the garden! ;-)
-Michelle of CreativeCritters