Seeds of broccoli, cilantro, dill and basil started in a flat on July 5, 2022 (Mark Torregrossa | MLive)

Many think a successful garden in Michigan needs to be planted in May. There are plenty of vegetables that flourish during the cooler times of late summer and fall.

The vegetables that love cooler weather are usually root vegetables, greens and the cruciferous vegetables.

Cruciferous vegetables are vegetables that have small flowers that look like a cross. Cruciferous vegetables are bok choy, cauliflower, cabbage, collard greens, kale, broccoli, Brussels sprouts and mustard greens.

Spinach and lettuce also love the fall weather.

These vegetables grow fast with fall afternoon temperatures in the 60s and 70s. In fact, they don’t like 80s and 90s. Planting these vegetables in the spring isn’t preferred to late summer planting because the plants will bolt, or start creating seed, during hot summer weather. Once an annual vegetable flowers and creates seeds, the taste of the green leaves turns bitter and the plant stops making leaves.

Many of the vegetables listed above will germinate better in the small plastic packs your spring annual vegetables and flowers came in. The reason- not only do they not like hot weather once growing, their seeds don’t like to germinate in hot soil.

So start the vegetables in the plastic packs or small pots indoors. Germinate the seeds now and grow the plants in the packs and pots until they are sturdy enough to plant in the garden. The sturdiness usually takes three or four weeks to develop. This puts us in late August. While we can have an occasional hot day in late August, long hot spells are rare. The temperatures also cool in the 70s and 60s after the heat of the day.

The vegetables listed above love the cooler nights.

Most of these vegetables will take between 50 days and 60s days from the time of germination to mature. If the seeds are planted now and take a week to germinate, 60 days later is late September. Expect to enjoy some great tasting and healthy home-grown vegetables in late September and October. If you plant the tiny plants in a cold frame, you could be harvesting broccoli and spinach up to the first week in December. That’s right- snow could be on the glass covering of a cold frame, and tender broccoli underneath. You will be amazed. I have picked the best broccoli in November.

Once the plants have germinated in the small plastic packs or pots, move them to sunshine immediately. If you don’t get them sunshine right away they will stretch out and become very spindly. This is especially true for broccoli.

These vegetables are also heavy feeders. They know they only have two months to make their seeds. A high nitrogen fertilizer should be applied once the plants get established. If the plants are growing fast, you have enough fertilizer on them. If they are growing slowly, apply another round of fertilizer.

You also still have time to plant another round of green beans and cucumbers. You can plant those seeds

If you thought you missed your chance to grow some vegetables, get to work and grow yourself some of the healthiest vegetables that can come out of your garden.

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