Many common vegetables fare much better during cooler months, since there are typically fewer insect pests and more rain during the autumn. Vegetable plants that prefer cooler weather include lettuces, root vegetables, broccoli, collard greens and other cabbages. Planting your cool-season vegetable crop is not much different from putting a typical spring garden, although there are a couple differences. Planting in late summer demands cool-season vegetables that mature within 50 days.
Remove anything left in the summer garden if you’d like one and throw it into the compost pile. Not only can this clean your garden for your winter crop, in addition, it helps prevent any pests of your summer plants from overwintering from the location.
Pour 1 to 3 inches of compost and rich, organic stuff onto your garden well before planting period. Composted manures and store-bought organic stuff are also perfect amendments to utilize.
Till the materials to your planting beds to a depth of approximately 12 inches to aerate the soil, break up large chunks and function from the organic stuff.
Slope the backyard bed north to south a few inches, with the north side higher than the south, as south-facing, sloped beds absorb the warm sun.
Plant seeds or transplants so they will have sufficient time to mature by the first frost date.
Plant taller crops at the north end of the garden along with shorter crops on the south; this is not as essential in winter plants since it is in summer plants, because most winter plants are shorter to the ground along with the sloped bed also assists the plants to get adequate sunlight.
Cover tender young plants with floating row covers to protect them in the late summer sun. Cover more mature plants with floating row covers in the event of an ancient hard frost.