What to Plant in Your Fall Garden

Spring and Fall vegetable Gardens are some of the best. The weather is nice and mild, so it is comfortable to work in them. Plus, I just love the stuff that grows during this time of year. I think of these two seasons as my salad seasons. But if you are wondering just exactly what to plant in your Fall garden, then look no farther.

What to Plant in Your Fall Garden…

Typically, when I think of Fall harvest, pumpkins and gourds come to mind. I like to use them for my Fall landscaping. However, I love putting in my Fall vegetables each year.

Fall vegetables should go in the ground about 10-12 weeks before your first frost. This will vary from zone to zone. So, please be sure to check out the specific dates for your area. Here in zone 7, we put our Fall vegetables in the ground during the month of August. But even that can vary from state to state, temperatures, and the gardener’s mood. ;-)

What to Plant in Your Fall Garden…

Cruciferous Veggies…

One of my favorite vegetables to grow is broccoli. We eat quite a bit of this, so it is no wonder that I reserve a large section of my raised composite garden for them. Because broccoli does better in cool weather, these will do better if planted later than sooner. So, I put them in at the 10 week mark. Protect them from hard freezes, should they occur.

Cabbage can be transplanted to the garden about 6-8 weeks before the last frost. If you mix the variety, you will get cabbage heads that mature at different rates. That way, you can have fresh cabbage in stages instead of many heads that mature all at once.

Cauliflower doesn’t tolerate changes in temperatures very well. It will do well when/if temperatures are maintained around 60 degrees. Put them in the ground after daytime temperatures have fallen below 75 degrees. After the heads have reached between 2-3 inches in diameter, you will need to blanch them. Blanching means that you pull the outer leaves up and over the head of the cauliflower. Hold them in place with twine or rubber bands, until they are ready to harvest. Harvesting the cauliflower should be around 1-2 weeks after blanching.

What to Plant in Your Fall Garden…

Leafy Greens…

Lettuce is one of the easiest plants to grow. I have grown several varieties here in zone 7. In fact, you can even take a wide container and grow baby lettuce on your porch.

In addition, most lettuce varieties are cut-and-come-again. This means that you can remove the outer leaves and the plant will continue to grow and produce more leaves for a later date. Some lettuce varieties can even be cut (do not pull the plants from the ground) completely, and as long as you leave a few inches above ground, they will come back for another round.

Spinach is great for so many things. It is one of the only green vegetables that I can get my kids to eat willingly – although usually inside cheese dips. It has virtually no flavor when used in smoothies, dips, sauces, and as toppings. So, it is the golden veggie around our house.

Because spinach is similar to lettuce, you can also pick the outer leaves off and allow the inner leaves to mature. This gives the longest production. Just don’t let the leaves get too big, or they will become bitter.

Plant spinach 6-8 weeks before the first frost and after the days have cooled. They will produce a lot of leaves rather quickly, and since they can tolerate temperature as low as 20 degrees (give or take), they can produce for quite a while.

Kale seems to be the vegetable choice of the Millennial generations. I have made Kale chips myself and enjoyed them, but this veggie just doesn’t go over well in my house. (As my husband puts it – “KALE NO”!) lol

However, you may be a kale lover. If you are, Kale is perfect for a Fall garden. Plant 3-5 weeks before the first frost. They do well in areas that do not fall below the teens during the winter. If you live too far north, you can still use a cold frame to successfully grow this green.

What to Plant in Your Fall Garden…

Edible Roots…

Carrots are one of those plants that can grown year round, just by sowing seeds every two weeks from early Spring on through Fall. But if you’re just starting out your carrots this Fall, sow your seeds at least 2-3 months before the first frost.

Carrots tend to be a bit finicky, preferring warm soil temperatures for germinating (which can take up to 2 weeks), and cooler temperatures during growing season. carrots can even be over-wintered for harvesting in early spring.

Beets are a vegetable that can grow all the way through winter in some of the warmer southern states. They do best when temperatures are cool (but not freezing). They do not fair as well in the heat of the summer.

Beets can last for up to a month in the refrigerator. If you are planning to stagger your sowings, keep this in mind. They can be harvested from baby sized all the way up to full sized, so they have time to grow before winter sets in, for every zone.

Final Thoughts…

I like to get advice from Rodale’s Organic Life, and Better Homes and Gardens, but I will take any that is good. So, if you have a suggestion on other Fall crop options, or if you have any tips or special tricks that have worked for you, please share them below in the comments section. I do not claim to be an expert in this area, and I, like many others, enjoy collecting new techniques. :-)

– PIN IT –