Gardening is a kind of self-prescribed preventative medicine, good for all ills. ~ Sheryl London

Fall Harvested Squash, Montesino Farm & Ranch, Wimberley, TX

Food gardeners living in Texas and the south love fall. It’s like spring, but instead of having summer to look forward to with its searing heat, drought, pests and pathogens–we have winter.

Not that we dislike summer–it’s just filled with heartbreak and dehydration, making it a smidgen less lovable than fall.

Next to fall, winter is the best time to garden in these parts because it’s everything that summer is not. Yet, until it’s winter–we love the promise of change that fall brings.

There’s this point in the fall garden when the juicy, sexy crops like tomatoes, melons, and cucumbers, make a brief comeback, as we ready beds for their replacements: hearty winter crops like kale, cabbage, beets, potatoes and chard.

To be honest, there’s no “bad” season to grow food crops. How bad can it be when you get to be outdoors, replenishing your vitamin D reserves, and growing food to eat and to share with family and friends? Not bad at all.