As the weather gets cooler, many people start putting away the garden tools, but fall is actually a great time to have a vegetable garden. It just takes a little more work and attention.

Most people in this area are familiar with fall vegetables like turnips, parsnips, and mustard as these were sometimes sowed along with the cover crop in the tobacco patch. But there are many plants that benefit from fall’s warm days and cool nights to create vegetables that are sweeter and milder. Broccoli, cabbage, carrots, beets, kale, and many types of leafy greens do very well in a fall garden.

You will have to do some math to see if the plant you’d like to grow will work in a fall garden. Let’s assume that the first hard freeze will occur in mid November. Take a look at your seed packet or your transplant stake for how many days it will take for the plant to reach maturity. If there’s ample time, you can plant. (I would be generous and add a week or two. Remember because of the cooler weather, things will take a little longer to grow.) Most things in a fall garden need to be planted by late August or early September to get any mileage. And certain warm weather plants such as tomatoes, squash, and okra just can’t grow at this time of year.

Late summer / early fall are typically the driest parts of the year in our area. When you plant, you’ll have to make sure sufficient water is available for germination and growth.

In late October /early November, you’ll have to assume the stance of a protective mother and watch the weather religiously to extend your growing season. I have been wandering around outside with old bed sheets after a dire warning from Chris Allen on a November night many times. Cloth sheets work the best for covering plants for both breathability and sheer square footage covered. (Something to keep in mind when planting fall vegetables is to plant them in square blocks that are the size of your sheets.) Plastic must be suspended over the plant so that it doesn’t touch or the freeze will go through. But you can be ingenious and use almost anything such as paper cups, milk jugs, or build actual cold frames.

But don’t just give up with the first frost of the year. Many times, there are several weeks of warm weather after the first frost which is the prime time for a fall garden. And even after a frost, many of these plants will last into the early part of the winter with straw or leaf mulch to keep the freeze away. I have pulled turnips to eat for Christmas dinner.

Late October is when you should be planting items that will overwinter and start producing next spring. Chief among these are potatoes, onions, and garlic. In fact, you almost have to plant garlic in the fall for any decent results.

But in the end, you can try to fight Mother Nature up to certain point, but she will always win. You’ll know it’s time to pull back into the warm house, open up those cans of green beans you canned, and start “winter gardening” over the pages of the seed catalog.

Chris Houchens is the Online Director for the Daily News and the Amplifier. He lives on 25 soggy acres on the Warren/Barren county line. He is also known in some circles as a marketing guru. Find out more at www.ChrisHouchens.com.