Fall planting in Canada

Hello everyone!

I'm starting to think about what to plant in my garden for fall. The bush beans are just about done producing beans. My carrots are almost ready to pull and I'm just about to give up on my broccoli. I planted it from seed back in early May and it's still very small.

Canada has 9 zones. From 0a all the way up in the arctic, to 5b in Newfoundland and 8a down in SW British Columbia. We have a wide variety of climates to grow in!

Here is a decent map showing the Canadian hardiness zones: http://atlas.nrcan.gc.ca/site/english/maps/environment/forest/forestcanada/planthardi

With all of this information in mind, what are you planting in your fall garden? I'm in zone 5a, so I'm thinking I'll have to start my fall planting very soon. I may end up planting a lot of salad mix and radishes. I'm not sure what else I can plant here this time of year.

What zone are you in and when are you planning on starting your fall garden? Is anyone here lucky enough to be able to grow all winter too? I think our winter here in Southern Ontario may be too harsh to grow anything. Has anyone in southwest BC tried growing a garden in the winter?

I'm really interested to find out how everyone across the country gardens in the fall.

I am going to try some plantings of lettuce and radishes this weekend and see how they do since they are sort of cool weather type crops. A lot will depend on how soon we get a killing frost. I also have a cold frame that I am planning to use for parsley and basil and more lettuce. I want to experiment with different things in different areas to see where they do best.

Obviously, we don't really GROW anything here all winter but I do plant my garlic in the fall. This year I will put it in earlier than I usually do to see if I can get some better results. I am going to plant onions this fall too and see what kind of results I get.

In her vegetable book for Northern Gardens, Lois Hole recommended planting carrots from seed in the fall too so that is something else I plan to try. She said that you can plant many things in the fall and it will give you a couple of extra weeks the following spring.

One of my daughters lives in Vancouver and the other at Courtney, BC. Both of them have things like turnips, kale, kolrahbi almost until December. I don't know if they garden all winter or not. The one in Courtney usually has tomatoes against the house behind old storm window for night time protection until the November long weekend.

Best of luck with your winter gardening.


gk

My broccoli didn't produce well either. I started mine inside back in March around the 15th and transplanted them outside Apr 25. They grew great but the heads were very tiny with only one twoony-sized head on each plant.....there must be a trick to broccoli we are not aware of as this is my second attempt both with similar results.

I also had poor results with radishes and beets over the last 2 years. There must also be a trick with them as I have had mixed success with root production on them....great tops but roots weren't produced on 75% fo the radishes and so far no beets. I read that radishes and beets need lots of phosphorus to produce well and that they don't like soil rich in fresh compost....I'll have to try again next year, less compost and a sprinkle of bone meal before seeds are planted this time to see if it works better.

I had great success with lettuce this year but it bolted very quickly once things got hot in July. I will replant some for a fall crop. Romaine did the best by far...also tried great lakes head lettuce and buttercrunch, they were nice too but bolted before I got the chance to harvest most of them.

Tomatoes are just coming on strong now, lots ripening. Also have had a few feeds of summer squash.

I grew sugar snap peas and they were great. They are also a cool temp crop and I will plant some for this fall. I find that I never plant enough of them so I will be doubling the number I plant a second time...they weathered the spring frosts so I am sure they will do well even when things cool down this fall.

I had problems with radishes and beets too. Something ate all of the leaves on my beets and the roots did nothing. The radishes seemed to just stop growing and again did nothing.

I didn't know about the phosphorous. I just replanted my radishes and beets after working some more compost into the soil. Hmmm... Live and learn I guess. I'll just wait it out and see how they do.

Last year, I couldn't seem to grow radishes to save my life. I have never in my life had trouble growing radishes before so that was weird to me. this year, they did great though and I have a third crop going. I really haven't checked to see how the beets are doing. The tops look good though. Last year the slugs got a lot of the tops so they didn't amount to much. I did get enough to last about a month but nothing to freeze or can.

That is good to know about the phosphorus. It sort of makes sense to add bone meal because that is what you need for root development and since beets and radishes are both roots it should work I would think. That it what you put in with tulips, onions and garlic so it would be worth a try. I will try that too.

Best of luck, ladies!

Gk