Cool vegetables can blossom

Shorter fall days give desert gardeners the perfect opportunity to create their cool season gardens. The summer is fine for growing melons, tomatoes and peppers (albeit under shade cloth), but during periods of cooler temperatures, especially cooler night temperatures, many other vegetables can flourish.

Preparation of the cool season garden is relatively easy since it relies on much of the work that was done last spring. The biggest concern is to remove dead plant material before planting anything new.

Old, dried out plants can come out and add important brown (carbon) material to the compost bin. In some cases, desiccated branches and leaves can even be used as mulch, as long as there was no sign of any insect damage or disease. All remaining fruit should be removed, however, because they contain seeds that could emerge and become weeds.

Jarring as it might be to think of it, a weed can be any plant that is growing where and when we do not want it — even something that was totally desirable just a few months ago!

Any weeds should be removed while the bed is empty. The infernal Bermuda grass that insists on invading, dandelions, tamarisk seedlings, thistles or anything else that can out-compete the vegetables must go.

Plants that are still productive, of course, should be maintained. Peppers and tomatoes will occasionally resume blooming and even producing after the hottest days are over. If their foliage and stems are brown and dry on the other hand, they should come out.

Because the warm season vegetables tend to pull large amounts of nutrients from the soil, it is a good idea to amend the planting bed with additional compost before starting to plant. Proper drainage is possibly the single most important component of a successful garden, and compost is invaluable in helping improve drainage. It is also a good source of nutrients, providing essential minerals in a slow release form. This allows plants to grow at a relatively even pace.

Too often, when they are treated with a large amount of soluble fertilizer, plants experience a growth spurt that can be stressful if followed by a period of low nutrition. For cool season vegetables, however, because they tend to be relatively short-lived annuals, soluble fertilizers can offer a good boost.

What plants should go into this cool season garden? Herbs, definitely; a crop of basil could make enough pesto for green sauce to last through the winter. Quite a few other herbs are actually perennials; once they have been successfully established, they will season meals for years to come.

Many dark green leafy vegetables can get planted in early fall. Members of the cabbage family, beets and their close relations, the chards, as well as leaf lettuce, will all thrive between now and the killing frost.

Among the benefits of gardening in the desert is the number of different growing seasons. Why not use them all?

­Angela O'Callaghan is the area specialist in social horticulture for the University of Nevada Cooperative Extension. She can be reached c/o the Home News, 2360 Corporate Circle, Third Floor, Henderson, NV 89074, or [email protected].