We have had a few days that really felt like fall and the days are shortening quickly.   Though we may still have some heat, it really is the shortness of the days that makes the fall garden. 

Until equinox I plant beets, carrots, cilantro, salad greens, spinach by seed and you can still stick in the some fall cabbage, broccoli, kale, and chard starts.   After equinox plants really start slowing down and it is sometimes hard to get things to mature before winter.  I can’t tell you how many times I have had mini beets sit all winter and then bolt as soon as the days got longer because I planted too late. It is a great time to do a last deadheading of flowers to keep the blooms going through October, same with basil.

If you have had any luck with tomato varieties that are not hybrids and have done well in this crazy summer, I recommend saving some for seed.  Saving tomato seed is fairly easy.  They have perfect flowers (meaning they have male and female parts and  mostly self pollinate) that seldom cross with other plants so you don’t have to worry about cross-pollination and can save seed from just one or two plants.  Take a few fully ripe tomatoes of one variety and cut them in half.  Scoop or mush out the gelatinous center, where the seeds are, into a cup or bowl.  Add a little water and let sit for a few days until a white mold covers the top.  Then gently pour off the water and muck, the seeds will settle to the bottom.  Rinse a few times with new water and you can eventually pour off all the muck.  The clean, viable seed settle to the bottom.  Strain them in a fine sieve, and put them on a plate to dry.   Store them in a marked envelope for planting next year. 

Sometimes plants begin to slow down on producing as fall comes.  I sometimes start pulling things out but am always amazed when I leave plants that they can still produce quite a bit of food, especially beans and summer squash.  If you have any winter squash or pumpkins you may be wondering when to harvest them.  I wait until the leaves start to yellow and then look for a brown stem and a hard skin (the skin will harden more as the squash sits).  Many squash get sweeter after curing a few weeks, though delicata squash tend to be sweet right away.   (Check out the new harvesting guide in the resource section)

I have had black aphids hit my chard pretty hard.  I took off the majority of the leaves, washed the rest with a strong spray of water and then foliar fed the plants with some compost tea and kelp emulsion.  They look better already.   Want to keep those plants producing all winter, since kale and chard are my main winter food.  Happy Fall Equinox enjoy the harvest!