As the first frost draws near and winter closes in, the change in daylight signals a renewed season of abundance in Norwood. Wright’s Mesa’s high-elevation growing season is short and sweet, but also happens to be prime for growing produce that thrives in colder climates. During the fall harvest, everything from root vegetables and squashes, to leafy greens and fruit trees will be ripe and ready for picking, and will be sure to keep your mouth happy and your belly full all winter long!
Here are some of the most successful veggies, herbs and fruit to plant on Wright’s Mesa:
Pumpkins
Are there any other vegetables that say ‘fall’ like pumpkins do? They come in a huge range of colors and sizes, but the best varieties for eating have thicker flesh and thinner skin. Pumpkins need room to roam, as their vines can reach up to 30 feet. They can be grown on trellises to gain more square feet of growing space.
Winter Squash
Winter squashes are easy to store and hold their vitamin value when stored at cool temperatures for months. Winter squashes include acorn, spaghetti, butternut, buttercup and hubbard squashes. These are best started indoors as seed and put out mid-summer. Like pumpkins, they can take up a lot of real estate in your garden.
Spinach and Arugula
Spinach and Arugula are the most cold-tolerant salad greens and can tolerate light frost. When arugula is grown in the beginning of summer, temperatures may get too warm, causing it to go to flower and seed too soon. However, when grown in the fall, the cooler temperatures allow the leaves to mature and be full of flavor. You’ll have better germination rates mid-to-late summer with the warmer soil at planting time. The cooler temperatures at the time the leaves are maturing produces tender, tastier leaves.
Beets and Carrots
Beets prefer some shade cover when they are first getting started, but as the soil temperature cools in the fall, the maturing beets will produce sweeter results. They can handle some light frost and will grow all the way up until the first hard freeze. Like beets, carrots that mature in the cooler fall soil will be sweeter. Don’t rush pulling them, as they are best when allowed to fully mature. Beets store well in the refrigerator or can be pickled or canned, and carrots will store up to three months in the refrigerator, so a good harvest will last you all winter.
Radishes and Parsnips
Along with carrots and beets, radishes grown in fall have better flavor than those grown in spring. They grow quickly, so you may even have time to plant two or three rounds, planting every two weeks. Parsnips should be planted directly into the garden. And unlike radishes, they can be slow to germinate, but can be started in a damp paper towel. Dig them out before the ground freezes and they’ll keep in the refrigerator through the winter.
Brussel Sprouts
Brussels sprouts will often be the last veggie standing as fall turns to winter. Harvest from the bottom up, as they will continue to grow from the top. Plant marigolds and nasturtiums nearby to help repel cabbage moths and aphids.
Broccoli
If you plant broccoli seedlings later in the summer, they will be less likely to be affected by random late-spring freezes. Once broccoli is more mature, it can handle a light frost, but should be harvested before the first hard freeze. Broccoli takes a little longer to mature, so it’s best to start seeds a little earlier and transplant mid-summer.
Cauliflower
Cauliflower produces tight, tender heads and does extremely well in the fall. Cauliflower takes a little longer to mature, so it’s best to start your fall crop just after the hottest parts of the summer. To get a jump on them, seeds can be started indoors sooner and seedlings transplanted mid-summer.
Potatoes
Potatoes love the cooler temperatures of higher elevations. It is best to grow fast-maturing varieties of potatoes from certified seed potatoes as grocery store potatoes are usually treated with growth inhibitors and can carry diseases when planted. It is also a good idea to avoid planting in beds where tomatoes, peppers, eggplant or other potatoes have grown in the last two years.
Cucumbers, Zucchini and Yellow Squash
Cucumbers are generally thought of as a summer crop, but if your supply is running low, a second batch can be started in mid-to-late summer. Try growing them on a raised trellis to make them easier to pick. Plant dill alongside for a perfect pickling combination. Zucchini and yellow squashes grow rapidly, maturing at around 60 days. A batch planted mid summer will have plenty of time to mature before the first frost. Harvest at 8 to 12 inches as they have a tendency to get overgrown and lose their fresh tender flavor.
Herbs
Reliably hardy perennial herbs such as French tarragon, horseradish, some mints, and chives perform quite well at higher elevations, and some perennial herbs also do well are sage, thyme, oregano, rosemary and bay. Annual herbs that can be direct-seeded in beds include parsley, dill, calendula, and borage. Herbs can also be grown in pots and brought in for the winter.
Apple and Pear Trees
Apples and pears tend to be exceptionally hardy. Relative to other fruit types, apples are one of the more common fruits grown at high altitudes, with numerous varieties adapted to harsher conditions. The best varieties of apples to grow are heirloom varieties, which because of their genetic diversity, helps foster biodiversity and prevents apples from succumbing to widespread diseases. Pears can withstand extremely harsh temperatures as well. one important characteristic to look for in pear varieties is early ripening, as many do not successfully ripen quick enough to bear quality fruit before the growing season ends. For more on local heirloom apples, check out the Apple Core Project!
What About Saving Seeds?
Seed saving is key to growing and maintaining a hardy stock of veggies. Seed saving has been around long before there were commercial seed producers. Most of the vegetables and flowers we have today owe their existence to gardeners who harvested seeds from the best of their plants and grew them the next year. Most gardeners choose to purchase their seeds from seed companies, but that doesn’t mean you have to. You just need to be familiar with the basics of saving seeds.
Plants in the garden come from either seed or transplants. True seed possesses an embryo in a dormant state, which, under the right conditions, breaks dormancy and produces a plant based on its genetic makeup. Transplants are living plants or parts that begin to grow under favorable conditions without benefit of an embryo.
Pollination Methods
There are three different pollination methods to become familiar with, air-borne, insect and self pollination. If you want the seed to have the same genetic composition of its parents, it must be pollinated with pollen from the same variety. In the case of air-borne pollinated crops, there must be no other varieties within a mile shedding pollen at the same time. If there is, some of the harvested seed will result from a cross between these two varieties. The closer the varieties are located, the higher the percentage of crossing.
If a crop is insect pollinated, there should be 1/4 mile separating varieties. Otherwise, some of the seed saved may result from the crossing of the varieties located within this 1/4-mile radius.
Self-pollinated crops offer the best opportunity for a home gardener to save seeds because the pollen is transferred directly to the stigma within the flower.
Harvesting Seeds
Seeds are generally extracted from fruit after it ripens and before it rots. Leave summer squash and cucumbers on the vine until after frost, just like winter squash and pumpkin. Separate the seed from its pulp and dry at room temperature. For pod crops such as peas and beans, leave the pods on the vine until the pod dries and harvest before the seed drops.
Storing Seeds
Once the seed is dried, store in an envelope in a cool, dry, rodent-free place. The seed will germinate best the following year. For most seeds, the germination percentage declines in accordance with the storage conditions, seed type and original seed quality. Therefore, it is best to replant produce every year and select the best plants for seed for the following year.
Want to learn more about gardening, seed saving and heirloom produce on Wright’s Mesa? Sign up for classes through CSU Extension and the Lone Cone Library!