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Where to Start? – What To Do? – How To Save Time?
What to Plant and When? – What NOT to plant with existing crops? All your questions AND MORE are covered in this all-in-one guide Vegetable Garden Secrets

The first thing you must know before getting started is to find out the average date for when the first killing frost will take place. You can find this information from your handy Farmer’s Almanac.

After this you plant your fall crops early enough to allow them to achieve their complete maturity before that killing frost.

Your local garden authorities can provide you with information regarding the timing of first frosts as well as the hardiness of numerous crops for your area. The planting recommendations provided here use a late October first freeze. Should your killing frosts arrive earlier or later modify accordingly.

Late maturing crops – Approximate maturity 90 days. Plant by mid July for fall harvest, later for spring harvest.

The following are middle season crops and should be planted by the middle of August. The approx. maturity of these crops is sixty (60) days.

Root Crops:

Carrots, Leek, Kohlrabi, and Turnips

Leaf Crops:

Swiss Chard, Winter Cauliflower, Perennial Herbs, and Collards

The following crops are considered early maturing (approx. maturity 30 days). These should be planted by mid September.

Root Crops:

Chives, Radishes, Bunching Onions, Spinach, and Mustard

For more information read the entry at the NC State University for Growing a Fall Vegetable Garden

Fall gardening will result in excellent vegetables and will extend crops long after spring planted plants are finished. Vegetables produced from fall gardening are many times sweeter and milder than those grown in the summer and offer a brand new taste to the same old veggies.

Gardening Tools:

While many gardeners do not have expensive or high-tech gardening tools, all of them have some type of gardening equipment for cultivating. Tools for cultivating can include both hand held tools and power tools. What kind you buy depends on how serious of a gardener you are. Hand tools include your everyday items like shovels, spading forks, rakes, trowels, and diggers. These can all be used to get a garden ready for planting and are relatively easy and do not require much strength to use.

While power tools are a little more expensive than hand tools, they really cut down on the hard labor. The most essential piece of gardening equipment is undoubtedly the garden tiller. The garden tiller will break up the ground and get it ready for planting, chop up any debris, and help mix in fertilizer and compost. If you don’t want to spend the money on a tiller you can hire someone or rent a tiller for one time use.

In case you have shrubs, hedges, or small trees as part of your yard, pruning tools can be a vital part of gardening equipment. Pruning shears are great for branches about three-quarter inch in diameter, while lopping shears are designed for branches from a half inch as much as about 2 inches. Pole pruners are on a pole and will reach branches about fifteen feet above ground. Hedge shears and pruning saws are generally larger, more heavy duty pruning tools for your really serious garden enthusiast.