Kale Until Christmas

Chris Smith, the community coordinator of Sow True Seed—an Asheville-based company that specializes in open-pollinated, heirloom, and organic seeds—answers gardening questions in each issue of Smoky Mountain Living.

I can never seem to get it together to have a fall garden. Any tips for success?

It’s August, you’re drowning in tomatoes that need to be canned, your kids have turned mutinous over zucchini, and your okra seems to flower, pod, and go woody within hours. Every day you’re squishing bugs, harvesting fruit, and trying to persuade your winter squash to stop invading the peppers. So when we tell you it’s time to start your fall garden, you have every right to scream.

But don’t panic. With decreasing bug pressure, the satisfaction of a homegrown Thanksgiving meal, and the promise of kale until Christmas, a fall garden is worth the little extra effort and doesn’t need to be overwhelming. Here are some ideas to lessen the burden:

Start your own fall transplants inside. Away from the fray of the summer garden, you can take a deep breath and start some seeds inside. You can be organized and plan what you want. Growing transplants means you’ll avoid most of the bugs and buy yourself a little extra time before planting outside.

Timing is key to the fall garden. Look up the “days to harvest” in your seed catalog or on your packet. Then, count backwards from your “average first frost date” to work out your planting date. You are aiming to have your plants around 75 percent mature by the time that first frost hits. If you are planting Brussels sprouts (90 days to harvest) in Asheville (where the average first frost is October 25th), then you’ll want to start the seeds around the end of July and definitely before the end of August.

Don’t worry if you’re late. The last point is valid, but don’t panic if you’re a little late. The mountains can be funny and we often have warm Novembers. There is definitely a period when low temperature and lack of light means nothing will grow (often called the Persephone period), but it’s always worth throwing down some lettuce, kale, collards, spinach, radish, or beets. Often, if they don’t produce in the fall, they’ll come up early in spring. 

Be sneaky. Direct sow some lettuce under your dying tomato plants, plant peas at the base of your okra so they can climb the stalks even once the okra has succumbed to the first frost, and throw bunching onion and radish seeds everywhere (they are quick to harvest and grow in small spaces).  

Cover crop. Always remember to use cover crops in any sections of garden that don’t have plants growing. Cover crops can build soil, protect from erosion, and look good during the winter months. 

Can I plant the garlic I buy from the store? It always sprouts in the fridge.

This is a great and common question, which is also often asked about potatoes (the answer is pretty much the same).

First, if your garlic is non-organic, there is a chance that it has been sprayed with a growth inhibitor, which would reduce the chances of having a healthy plant. If it is organic garlic, then there is no reason why you couldn’t grow garlic from the cloves, but a risk persists.

Garlic is reproduced by clonal division (you plant the cloves), not by seed. This makes garlic fairly susceptible to diseases. When you buy seed garlic it is certified. This means that samples of the garlic have been sent to an external laboratory to test for fusarium (and a few other diseases). Fusarium is the big one; it rots your garlic and the disease can persist in your garden for multiple years.

So, while certified seed garlic costs more, it is worth the investment. If you are going to plant garlic that is not certified, then I’d recommend a local farmers market. This gives you a chance to speak with your farmer, who is likely to be honest about their rotation practices and the health of their soil.

Garlic is otherwise an easy-to-grow crop that fills a winter niche nicely.

Email your gardening questions to ask@sowtrue.com.