Can any vegetable be planted from seed outdoors in raised beds for a fall harvest in the Toronto area?
The answer is a resounding “yes”!! Here’s a link to The Old Farmer’s Almanac Planting calendar for Toronto. You can sort the calendar by planting date. Note that the first frost occurs, on average, around October 13 each year – an important date to keep in mind.
There are a number of tasty veggies that can be planted outside around now (end of August), for fall harvest – including arugula, beets, Swiss chard, lettuce, radishes, spinach, turnips. I’d suggest that you get a move on as the window of opportunity is starting to close. You might also want to take a chance on planting a couple of hardy vegetables like carrots and broccoli, although we’re past the recommended “plant outdoors by” date for these and many other vegetables. I mention this because one advantage of gardening raised beds is that the soil warms up earlier in the spring and holds heat later in the autumn – in your case, this means that later planting may work!
The Almanac also has a link to Growing Garlic, which may be a crop you’re interested in growing. Finally, the website also links to an excellent article written earlier this month, Best vegetables for a fall garden, which includes a helpful rule of thumb for calculating the last planting dates for vegetables, taking into account the first frost date and how long it will take the veggies to mature as we head into fall.
All the best in growing a tasty vegetable crop over the coming weeks!
August 29 2021