Your fall food garden starts now, even if your current garden looks finished.

Next week, temperatures are expected to climb above 100 degrees in North Texas.

That may not feel like gardening weather, but the next several days are actually important if you want to continue harvesting food this fall.

Here are three things to do now:

1. Water deeply before the worst heat arrives.

Do not respond to extreme temperatures by lightly watering every day. Your goal is to thoroughly wet the soil at least six inches deep, then allow the upper few inches to begin drying before watering again.

Check your beds with your finger or a small trowel. If only the surface is wet, your irrigation system has not run long enough.

2. Start your fall brassicas indoors.

Broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, kale and related crops need time to grow into sturdy transplants before they go into the garden. Mid-to-late July through the end of August is the time to start these crops indoors under lights. Waiting until the weather feels like fall usually means starting too late. Our Indoor Seed-Starting Master Class is the best course available to gardeners on the subject and is available now for enrolled students inside our course library.

3. Decide what will replace your struggling spring garden.

Tomatoes, cucumbers and squash often look exhausted by this point in the summer. You do not have to keep nursing plants that are no longer productive.

Fall gives us another opportunity to grow tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, beans, root vegetables, leafy greens and much more. But the fall garden must be planned and planted on a North Texas schedule.

The Best-Ever Fall Vegetable Garden replay is now available inside the school.​

The class walks you through what to plant, when to plant it and how to establish a productive vegetable garden despite the heat. I even share my personal 2026 fall planting plan with exact planting dates and varieties.

You can watch the replay now and use it to make your planting plan for the rest of the year.

​WATCH THE REPLAY​

Take your food gardening to the next level

Enrollment gives you access to complete educational programming. Here are the courses inside the school which support a food gardening learning pathway:

• Principles of Organic and Sustainable Gardening
• Growing Fruits & Vegetables in North Texas
• Top 10 Healthiest Vegetables and How to Grow Them
• Indoor Seed-Starting Master Class
• Best-Ever Fall Vegetable Garden
• Natural Pest and Disease Management
• Soil Health and Composting Essentials
• Superb Spring Vegetable Garden
• The Homegrown Kitchen

You will not need to purchase anything additional. These classes are already included with enrollment.

For now, start with the Best-Ever Fall Vegetable Garden replay and the Indoor Seed-Starting Master Class. The work you do in July will determine what you are able to harvest this fall.

​WATCH BEST-EVER FALL VEGETABLE GARDEN​