Latest Trustworthy News from Dr. Mercola - delivered straight to your inbox!
Get 20% Off on Earth Day Sale Get 20% Off on Earth Day Sale

The Fall Vegetable Garden

  • August 19, 2018

With summer coming to an end, it’s a good time to consider planting a fall vegetable garden that can be harvested before winter’s cold takes over. The good news is lots of things you planted in early spring can be replanted now. Snow peas and bush beans are two crops that may work well, depending on when you anticipate your first frost, Capital Journal reports. If a frost is forecasted before your fall harvest, covering your plants for the duration of the frost can protect them.

I’m a huge fan of personal gardening, and it’s something that I engage in myself, on my own property. Since vegetables like broccoli, cauliflower, collard greens and kale prefer cooler temperatures, this is a great time to get them started so you can enjoy these vegetables fresh from your personal garden into late fall.

You can also plant arugula, Brussels sprouts, parsnips and spinach due to their high tolerance to frost; beets, carrots, lettuce and Swiss chard should be harvested before the frost, so be sure to plant them now.

Radishes are another cool-weather crop for your fall garden. They mature in just 25 days and are a healthy, low-calorie food known to detoxify your blood, purify your kidneys and regulate your blood pressure. Radishes contain the powerful flavonoids beta carotene, lutein and zeaxanthin, as well as detoxifying indoles and sulforaphane, a compound that has been shown to inhibit certain cancers.

If you like them — or want to try them — turnips are another good fall garden plant. Turnip roots and their greens are both edible and nutritious. Turnip roots are a hearty addition to stews, have a mild flavor and bring forth a potato-like texture when cooked. Turnips are rich in antioxidants and beneficial nutrients such as vitamins A, C and K — found in the leafy green tops — as well as calcium, copper, iron, manganese and potassium.