If you wait until fall to start your fall garden, it will be too late.
The key to a really strong fall and winter garden is to plant early. This way plants have time to grow to a harvestable size by November/December so you can continue to harvest through the winter. If you wait until Oct/Nov to plant then it becomes too cold and too little light for plants to put on much growth.
Here is what I am planting for fall:
1. Cabbage- I will plant Filderkraut for eating and Red Drumhead and Nozaki for seed production. These will be started in trays with 2 inch cells. I will seed about 2-3 seeds per cell and thin them to the strongest seedlings. I may transplant to 4 inch pots in mid August and then get them in the garden by mid September. If they are robust enough, I'll skip the 4 inch pots and just get them in the garden around Sept 1.
2. Broccoli- Broccoli planted now should yield edible heads this fall and into the spring when it will try to go to seed. I'll be planting our Solstice variety, bred in Grants Pass, OR by the late Jonathan Spero. It produced small heads followed by many side shoots. I start broccoli the same way as cabbage.
3. Carrots- I'll be growing Nantes Coreless carrot for seed and eating this season. My goal is to get these seeded by July 25 to grow nice roots for fall and winter selection and feasting. I direct sow these along drip tape in shallow trenches then cover with 1/8-1/4 inch soil. I then cover the beds with row cover laid directly on the ground and secured on the sides. This keeps moisture in and speeds germination.
4. Beets- Shiraz Tall Top beets are one of my favorites with lush leafy greens and dependably delicious roots. I use the same method as carrots to grow beets for seed and eating.
The leafy greens have a little more wiggle room for when you seed them. I'll be starting many of the leafy greens using a direct sowing method in late August. That will also be a good time to start turnips and cilantro.
