Florida Fall Garden: What to Plant When the Heat Finally Breaks

If you moved here from somewhere with normal seasons, unlearn them. On the Gulf Coast, summer is when the garden rests and fall is when it comes alive. September through November is planting season.

September: while it is still hot

Start heat-tolerant things and transplants indoors or under shade cloth: peppers, tomatoes for a fall crop, eggplant, okra if you missed the spring, and herbs like basil. Direct-sow beans and cucumbers late in the month.

October: the good stuff

Once nights drop into the 60s, direct-sow lettuce, kale, collards, mustard, radishes, carrots, beets, and Swiss chard. Set out broccoli, cabbage, and cauliflower transplants. This is the month the beds fill up.

November: keep it going

Succession-plant greens every two weeks so you are not drowning in lettuce one week and out the next. Garlic and onion sets go in now. Strawberries as bare-root plants, too.

What the birds contribute

Composted duck, chicken and rabbit bedding is the best thing that ever happened to our raised beds. Aged for a few months first so it does not burn the plants, then worked into the top of the bed before planting. The ducks also get every slug and caterpillar I find, which keeps them invested in the operation.

What I skip

Anything that needs a long cool season, like most sweet corn and many squash, is a spring crop here. Fall is for greens, roots, and brassicas.

Bed-by-bed updates are on Facebook, and the newsletter has the planting list each month.