A few weeks ago I planted our fall greens from seed in the vegetable garden. I planted a mix of kale, chard, lettuce, spinach, pak choi, and Brussels sprouts. The seedlings are all located in one of my long 10’x3′ beds made from scrap lumber. They were originally meant to be 10’x2′ like in this raised bed layout but I altered the size a little. When the days begin to stay a little cooler, without the peaks of 80 degree weather, I’ll install PVC pipe for a hoop house to keep my greens growing. Otherwise the greens need little care at the moment except for occasional watering during the dry spells. Fortunately rain has been fairly frequent compared to normal this fall. I sowed the seeds fairly thick but I’ll harvest some of the younger greens to thin out the bed.
Earlier in the summer I planted a few pak choi (or bak choi) in another raised bed which are doing good. There is also some self sown lettuce in the same bed that we’ll cultivate and harvest as long as we can. It’s been my experience that lettuce sown in the fall will survive each year until spring even if it doesn’t put on growth. Once spring warms up the lettuce has a great head start. I’ll place a couple hoops over this smaller bed as well and cover to encourage growth for a longer period over the winter.
I did this two winters back, when we had the snow storms, and I was shocked that even my lettuce survived! It would go stiff overnight, and then be harvestable by the mid afternoon. We ate lettuce, oriental greens, and cilantro all through the winter! Lynda
I have pak choi, Chinese cabbage, spinach, kale, broccoli, lettuce, brussels sprouts and cabbage, turnips, rutabega and beets growing outside right now. I love fall gardening. I've had both lettuce and kale stay alive over winter with no attention from me at all. This past spring I let my kale get massive and go to seed, which was fun, and a real learning experience.