Preparation

• If you had a summer garden, by late summer the harvest should be complete. Clean out all of your beds by pulling all of the dead plants. Make sure you also get the roots so the new plants will not be crowded. Add a bit of compost and mix with the current soil so the new plantings will get the nutrients they need.
  
  If you did not have a summer garden, prepare the beds by adding potting soil and compost, then mixing well. It is best to use raised beds for fall gardening because soil in raised beds stays warmer longer. To avoid the expense of enclosed, raised beds, simply mound the soil and plant in the middle of each mound.
  
  

Planting

• Choose vegetables that have a fast growing season and plant based on the frost date in your area. If you are unsure of the frost date, check VictorySeeds.com and enter your state. The major cities will be listed along with the frost dates. If your town is not listed, use the date of the closest city.
  
  To determine when to plant, look on the back of your seed packets for the days to germination and days to harvest. Add the two numbers together to get the total days needed from planting to harvest. Consult a calendar and, starting with the frost date for your area, back up the number of days you noted for planting and harvest to determine when you need to plant. It is important to follow these dates fairly closely because if you do not allow enough time for your plants to germinate, grow and bloom, the plants may not produce.
  
  

Varieties

• Generally, the earliest varieties you plant in the spring are also the best to plant for fall harvest. This is because those varieties can handle cooler weather better than summer varieties. Often the seed packets will be labeled as "cool weather" or "cold hardy," so make sure to buy those types.
  
  Broccoli and cauliflower are good options for late summer planting. They can handle a bit of frost and actually perform better when the weather is cooler because warmer weather causes the blossoms to bolt or shoot up. Since you actually are eating the buds when you eat broccoli and cauliflower, it is important not let the blossoms bolt because they will be bitter.
  
  Other vegetables suited to late summer planting are carrots, turnips and radishes. These are root vegetables and as long as the soil remains warm, you should have plants that produce well. Radishes are especially easy to grow since the time to maturity is only five to six weeks.
  
  Leafy vegetables such as lettuce and spinach are also good producers in cooler weather. Choose leaf lettuce varieties instead of head varieties because the leaf versions mature in about half the time. Leaf types can also be harvested over time by cutting the outer leaves as they grow. This provides a longer harvest and encourages the plant to continue to produce.