Fall is a great time of the year in the garden. Just when you think the heat will never cease, Mother Nature grants our wishes and turns on the air conditioning. This year she must have felt really bad for the summer she dealt us because she skipped the AC and went directly to the deep freezer. Boy, did the weather change quickly or what!

The cooler weather just seems to perk up everything including me. The plants that made it through the summer all seem to be looking better.

Since living in Natchez, one of the things that I have been blessed with (or spoiled by) is an abundance of fresh vegetables. I have to confess, I don’t grow most of them. Not that I don’t enjoy growing vegetables, because vegetable gardening is wonderful. I have been lucky to work with lots of vegetable growing experts in the past, but none of them compare to my father-in-law, Fred.

He has the touch when it comes to growing vegetables. If thumbs really could be green his would be chartreuse. Vegetable gardening is his passion and it shows by the bushels of produce that comes from his plots. So, when I have a vegetable question I know right were to go.

He gladly offered to share some of his tips for cool-season vegetable growing that are included below.

Cool-season vegetables are some of my favorites. Very few do I dislike. Some I crave. Fred’s lettuces and broccoli are the best. I am sure that he is tired of me asking him when he will be planting lettuce. I just cannot get enough.

Now is the time to start planting lots cool-season veggies. Broccoli, cauliflower, lettuce, cabbage, carrots, brussels sprouts, collards, turnips, mustards, spinach, radish, and many others are staple cool-season veggies that can be planted now.

Many people don’t grow vegetables because they believe that they don’t have the room. Nonsense! Vegetable gardening like any other gardening can be done very well in small yards and in containers for apartments. Many vegetables will combine nicely with many bedding plants. Try interplanting ornamental cabbage with regular cabbage.

Fred recommends that carrots, mustards, turnips and radishes be direct seeded into the garden. When planting carrots, open up the row and place a slow release fertilizer like cotton seed meal in the furrow. Cover the fertilizer up with soil and plant the carrot seed on top. This is necessary because fertilization is difficult after the carrots emerge. Plant carrots only once because they can be harvested periodically throughout the winter.

Other veggies are best planted in the garden from transplants. Broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, collards and lettuce are probably best planted from transplants because seed germination may be sporadic in the field.

Most transplants are readily available at nurseries. However, growing your own from seed is fun and easy. Plant seed in small peat pots or other small containers. Keep them warm and in a sunny location where you can monitor the moisture regularly. Typically, seed will germinate and be large enough to transplant in two to three weeks.

Make sure to stagger your planting dates so that not all of your produce will be ready to harvest at one time. For example, setting out plants every three to four weeks will keep a steady supply of produce coming all winter long instead of having more than you know what to do with one time then not having any later.

Lettuce in particular is much better when home grown. Lettuce can go from the seed pack to the salad bowl in as short as 45 days for some varieties. By spacing the planting dates, you can keep your salad bowl full well into spring.

With the cooler weather hopefully here for good, try and plant a few cool-season vegetables. Most are easy to grow. When it comes to vegetables, fresh is best!

Thanks for the info, Fred. (Have you planted any lettuce yet?)

Gardening Miss-Lou Style is a weekly column written by Traci Maier of Natchez. Please send your comments and questions to Gardening Miss-Lou Style, c/o The Natchez Democrat, 503 N. Canal St., Natchez, Miss., 39120 or by e-mail to ratmaier@iamerica.net.