I have a dilemma every fall. And honestly, it's a good problem to have. By the time September and October roll around, my peppers are often just getting started with another flush of blossoms and new fruit. The same thing happens with my tomatoes—the tomatoes I have babied, watered, watched and worried over all summer long. Especially the indeterminate varieties. Indeterminate tomatoes continue to grow and produce new flowers and fruit throughout the growing season, rather than producing one concentrated crop. And sometimes, those plants seem to look at the fall calendar and say, “Oh, NOW you want tomatoes? Here you go!” Sometimes I actually get a bigger harvest of tomatoes and peppers in the fall than I did in late spring or early summer. Wonderful, right? Except...
It is also the time to get many fall vegetables in the ground.
And suddenly I have a garden real-estate problem.
The Fall Garden Dilemma:
Cool-season vegetables need time to get established before the weather turns cooler and the days get shorter. This is when I want to plant lettuce, kale, cabbage, carrots and peas! And suddenly I'm looking around my garden thinking: ‘Where am I supposed to put all of this?' Peppers, tomatoes, okra and eggplant are all still producing.
I don't really want to pull out perfectly healthy plants that are giving me food, but I also know that if I wait too long to plant my fall crops, they may not have enough time to grow before winter arrives. I know, I know. This is a much better problem than saying, “Well, my pepper died over the summer, so I guess I have plenty of room!” Still, sometimes gardening involves trade-offs.
You Don't Always Have to Choose
One of the ways I try to have it all—or at least have as much as possible—is by planting my cool-season crops around the larger plants that have been growing all summer. This can actually work beautifully. Those big summer plants can provide a little shade for newly planted lettuce, kale and other cool-season seedlings while the weather is still warm.
And let's be honest, especially in September, that shade can be a gift. The trick is timing. As the weather cools and the days get shorter, those summer plants will eventually finish producing, be removed by frost, or simply run out of steam. By then, the cool-season crops have had a chance to get established. The garden transitions from summer to fall without everything having to be ripped out and replanted on the same day. It's more of a garden relay race. One crop hands the baton to the next. Of course, you still need to pay attention to the individual needs of your plants. A mature tomato plant can cast a LOT of shade, and fall vegetables eventually need enough sunlight to grow well.
But in that transition period, overlapping crops can make excellent use of limited garden space. And this brings me to one of my favorite gardening strategies: succession planting.
Succession planting simply means you don't plant your entire crop at once. It’s the practice of planting crops sequentially to extend the harvest season, maximize garden space, and prevent a massive, unmanageable surplus all at once
In other words, you plant the same crop in stages.
Let's say you want lettuce. Rather than planting all of your lettuce seeds on September 1, you might plant some on September 1, another group a week or two later, and another group a week or two after that. Now you don't have one giant lettuce harvest all at once. You have a succession of lettuce. And that's a very good thing. Because as much as I love lettuce, I'm not sure I need 47 heads of it ready to harvest on the same Tuesday.
And yes, sometimes something has to go. That's gardening. Veggie plants are mostly annuals. They live, produce and die in one or two seasons. Thank them for what they have provided you and compost them, so they can continue to ‘give back’ to your garden.
My Fall Garden Strategy
So when September and October roll around and I'm standing in my garden surrounded by peppers and tomatoes that are still producing, I try not to think of it as an either/or situation. I don't necessarily have to choose between my summer vegetables and my fall garden. Instead, I look for ways to overlap them. I might:
Plant lettuce or kale around established summer crops.
Use the shade from larger plants while the weather is still warm.
Start cool-season crops in containers if garden space is limited.
Remove summer plants as they finish producing and immediately replant the space.
Use succession planting to spread out my harvest.
Plant smaller amounts of lettuce, radish or other quick crops at one- or two-week intervals.
It's a little bit of planning, a little bit of timing and occasionally a little bit of garden Tetris.
If you are a ready for the next level, or just a beginner gardener and this still sounds so overwhelming, don’t give up. I got you! I have just created a Beginner Kitchen Garden 2027 Calendar and Planner. It tells you week by week, what to plant, when to plant, and gives so many useful tips that you won’t wonder what to do next. It includes planting guides and design plans for a year of veggies, herbs, and flowers! Find it here. And if you know of someone who wants to start gardening - this calendar would make a great gift. Everything you need to start is in the calendar.
A GardenWise Thought:
A garden doesn't have to change seasons overnight. Sometimes the transition takes time. Use that transition time to your advantage. Harvest and Prepare for what’s next.
So plant what you can, where you can, when you can.
And if you run out of room?
There's always another container. 🌱
