Gardeners can make smart use of their plots by thinking vertically, not only for the regular growing season, but also—and especially—for fall. I regularly beat the frost in fall, giving me extra weeks of harvest, by utilizing my garden to its best advantage.
Use fences. Grow vining Italian summer squash, such as ‘Zucchino Rampicante,’ on your garden fences, and you’ll harvest the hanging fruits into late fall. I picked my last zucchini on Nov. 8 last year, even though our area had experienced a heavy frost each night for the week prior.
After the weather has turned quite cold, I plant fall peas on another fence for a spring-like harvest in fall. Be sure to cover the roots of all vegetables grown on a fence with some loose straw to keep them warm.
Use old plants. Snap peas grow tall on dead cornstalks left to stand in the garden after summer harvest. I tuck the seeds in the soil around the roots of the old corn plants and let the growing peas twine their way up the stalks toward the sun and away from ground-hugging frost.
Use your topography. My garden isn’t level, and I’ll bet yours isn’t either. Several of my raised beds are at a higher elevation than the others by a couple of feet. Cold air sinks, meaning frost settles first in the lowest areas of a garden. Frost at ground level won’t necessarily kill plants located even a foot or two higher in the garden.
You can also dig
