9 Great Fall Garden Plants

You may not realize it but summer is not the only season you can grow vegetables in. Fall is a great time to extend your garden season. Plant these 9 fall garden vegetable plants to extend your garden season into the cooler weather of fall.

Bok Choy

Bok choy is in the same family that cabbage is in. It has tops that are dark green and stalks that are thick and white that have a nice crunchiness to them.

Bok choy can handle temperatures down to 30⁰F which makes this a great fall vegetable. Plant this vegetable 40-50 days before your first frost. You can find out more about bok choy here.

Collard Greens

Collard greens can withstand temperatures down to 10⁰F making them able to survive the whole winter in mild regions. Collard greens will keep growing even after your first frost!

You can learn all about growing collard greens from seed here. If you mulch the plants before winter they can survive till spring!

Cabbage

Cabbage grows well even when it gets below 30⁰F. You may find it is easier to grow cabbage in the fall because cabbage loves the cooler weather while garden pests hate it.

Cilantro

Cilantro is prone to bolt when the temperatures get above 70⁰F. With the cooler and cloudy fall weather you can harvest your cilantro multiple times before winter settles in.

This herb has so many uses in the kitchen and it is one of my favorites to grow. Fall is also a great time to plant perennial herbs. Here are some perennial herbs that are great for zone 5.

Carrots

While we normally think that carrots are an annual plant this is not true. Carrots can survive all winter in the ground and if left to grow they will flower the next spring.

Carrots also get sweeter after the first frost and are less likely to split with the moist and mild weather. Some people even store their carrots in the ground for the entire winter.

Garlic

Hardneck garlic needs to be planted in the fall. I always plant my garlic between September and October so it is ready to harvest by next July.

While softneck garlic does not have garlic scapes hardneck garlic does. You can learn about garlic scapes and when you should harvest them here.

Radishes

Radishes can get very “spicy” when the weather starts to warm up. They can also split and get very pithy with the hot weather which makes them disgusting.

Most radishes take only 30 days to mature so you can plant these right up until your first freeze! Some even say to let them rot in the ground to improve the soil.

Lettuce

Just like most vegetables lettuce will get bolt and taste bitter when the weather is warm. In the fall you don’t have to worry about your lettuce bolting and getting bitter.

You can learn how to grow big heads of crisp romaine lettuce here.

Spinach

While heat can make spinach bolt, the number of day light hours actually plays into spinach bolting. If you get more than 12 hours of sunlight a day your spinach will bolt.

That is why it is always best to plant your spinach after the summer solstice. The spinach will receive less daylight everyday giving you more time to harvest leaves. In fact, you can cover your plants in a layer of mulch so they start to regrow in the spring.

Why you should grow a fall garden

If this array of plants hasn’t convinced you to plant a fall garden here are some other reasons you should extend your garden season.

• Less pest pressure: In fall it is much easier to grow a garden because you don’t have so many insects trying to eat all of your plants.
• Milder weather: While it can be a challenge to grow some of the above crops in the summer garden growing them in fall is a breeze.
• More rainfall: Fall tends to be filled with rain which means you shouldn’t have to water your fall garden as much as your summer garden.
• More fresh veggies: Extending your season lets you enjoy all your fresh vegetables even in fall.

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