Fall and Winter Gardening

There is far more information out there on Fall and Winter gardening than I can sift through and present coherently in this format. But I thought I'd try to hit some highlights as we start considering the end of summer.

We are zoned 6a to 7a on the revised USDA zone hardiness map. We're literally right on the edge. The dent into the river channel creates a climate more like 7a, but we're surrounded to the north and west by 6b. We all know how unpredictable the weather can be, so it's probably best to assume we'll have a 6b winter. What does that mean? It's an indicator of how cold the weather is, and what our average frost dates are. Many gardeners are familiar with frost dates - we know when the soil is warm enough to start planting. But end frost dates are important, as well, to the cold weather gardener. It gives us a time table for when we should start planting our cool weather crops.

For your ease of finding:

Zone 6
Average date the last frost - 30 March to 30 April
Average date the first frost - 30 September to 30 October
Zone 7
Average date the last frost - 30 March to 30 April
Average date the first frost - 30 September to 30 October

For our zone, it's the time to plant certain cool weather crops that cannot survive the heat of summer, that need cool weather to mature, or simply have enough hardiness to give us a second crop for the year. We still have time to plant:
Arugula
Asian Greens
Endive
Garlic
Kohlrabi
Lettuce
Swiss Chard
Turnips

It's really close, but you might be able to get a crop of beets and onions in as well. With this crazy weather, who knows how Fall will work out?