Next to spring, fall is one of the best times to grow vegetables, because of the cooler temperatures and fewer pests. Many vegetables love cool weather and need more water, which makes them perfect for autumn planting. So, if you’re looking for some ideas on what to plant in your fall food garden, here are some crops to start now with gardening tips to ensure a successful cool-season harvest.
What To Plant in Your Fall Garden
You should plant your fall crops 6–10 weeks before your first frost date, depending on the vegetable.
1. Swiss Chard
This leafy green needs around 50-60 days to grow and can tolerate both – hot and cold weather. Make sure to harvest the older, most outer stalks in order to extend harvest.
2. Arugula
Arugula is a great vegetable to enjoy in salads and it grows pretty quickly – you can get your first harvest in about 40 days! It thrives when its colder, it loves water and there are fewer pests that can punch holes into its spicy leaves (which happens to mine during summer).
3. Radishes
Radishes were one of the first crops I saw success with years ago! They grow incredibly quickly and love cool weather – you can harvest them in around 30 days and they’re great in salads! To make sure you always have some, saw seeds regularly – every 10-15 days.
4. Spinach
Spinach is one of the most popular leafy greens and it’s a vegetable that thrives during cooler weather. You can harvest spinach in around 45 days and is frost tolerant. If you need some inspiration on what to do with spinach, check out these recipes.
5. Carrots
Carrots take a bit longer to grow – around 80 days, but they also love the cooler weather during fall or beginning of spring.
6. Broccoli
Broccoli is another great vegetable to grow during fall! What’s different here is that you should start with transplants for better results! The time until harvest can take around 90 days, but broccoli can survive a light frost.
7. Kale
One of my biggest goals when I started gardening was to grow lots and lots of kale, so that I can make more green smoothies. And finally, last year I succeeded! To my surprise, and joy, the kale actually survived the winter as well as the summer (even after cabbage worms) and now I have the same plant for 2 years.
It takes around 60 days to be harvest-ready, but planting kale is worth it! Make sure to harvest the oldest, outer leaves so that the plant keeps producing.
8. Lettuce
You can try growing different varieties of lettuce – like Romaine, butterhead or looseleaf. And you can start from both – transplants or seeds – although transplants will ensure success. Harvest lettuce in about 50-60 days and if you need recipes to use it – check out these.
9. Cauliflower
Cauliflower takes a longer time until harvest (around 80 days) and needs more space than, for example, arugula or kale. However, if you’re determined, this cruciferous vegetable is perfect for your fall garden.
10. Turnips
You can have both the greens and the roots of turnips when you grow some in your garden! Time until harvest is around 50 days.
11. Mustard Greens
You can have these spicy greens in salads or in stir-fries! Older leaves can get a bit too bitter, so it’s best to harvest them early. If you’re growing them from seed it can take between 30-50 days until harvest.
12. Beets
You can enjoy beets raw in salads or juices, cooked or pickled too! When planting make sure to leave some space between the seeds – around 3 inches, so that they can grow bigger bulbs. Time until harvest takes around 60-70 days.
13. Bok Choy
This is the first year, I’m trying my luck with growing bok choy, because I just love it in stir-fries. It has a milder flavor than other cruciferous vegetables like kale, however it’s packed with vitamins and antioxidants too! Plus it grows super fast – around 30-45 days until it’s ready to harvest!
14. Green Onions
Start from bulbs and harvest green onions in a 3-4 weeks! I like to always have scallions (aka green onions) around, because they have a milder taste than yellow or red onions. Which I love, especially in salads!
15. Parsley and cilantro
I’m adding both of these herbs to the list for your fall food garden, because they’re similar for me. Similar look, different flavor that is. Both are ready to harvest from seed in around 50-60 days and can be enjoyed in salads or as garnish!
Tips for Your Fall Garden
If you know that frost is coming, there is a great way to save your crops (even the ones that don’t tolerate frost). It’s called – row covers or tunnels. Last year, we had a big unexpected snow, but we had made a tunnel out of young hazel branches and a large plastic cover, and it worked to keep the kale, radishes, and lettuce from freezing. All of the herbs like parsley, oregano and thyme survived and did not need a cover.
If the fall is dry, where you are, you will need to water regularly (2-3 times a week might be enough, but it depends on the weather).
Also, this year we’ve been dealing with cabbage worms on the kale and cabbage – they love cruciferous vegetables. If you don’t know, cabbage worms are basically the caterpillars of white butterflies. I used to be so happy whenever I saw those butterflies come to my kale. Now, when I see them, I only feel disgusted. I get shivers and hear the sound from the movie Psycho. Taking 40 cabbage worms off a leaf can do that to you.
So watch out for those – even though it’s gotten cooler, they’re still nibbling and I’m making my disgusted face regularly. Whenever I notice them, or their eggs on the bottom of the leaves – I remove the leaves or take off the caterpillars. For now, this is working, but I’m looking for other easier ways to get rid of them like spraying with garlic or chili solution.
Final Thoughts
I hope you got some ideas for your fall food garden! It’s not over yet, don’t give up!!! By planting these cool-season vegetables and herbs, you can enjoy fresh, homegrown produce well into winter. This will also give your spring garden a head start with overwintering crops.