The bounty of tomatoes and zucchini still gracing the table in August makes it hard to think of what to grow in the fall vegetable garden. But it’s that time of year where careful planning now can lead to success in keeping the kitchen full of fresh vegetables.
In nearly every climate, a fall vegetable garden can easily be added to grow fresh produce. Some of the sweetest carrots, colorful lettuces, and the most beautiful radishes grow during this season to tantalize the taste buds. Another bonus is the pests tend to slacken off. The weeds loose their summer grip. And the fresh scent of fall makes the garden a lovely sanctuary.
What to grow in your fall vegetable garden?
What can we grow in the fall? The answer surprises many with the diversity. But first, we need to learn when your first frost date in your growing zone to determine when to start your seedlings or sow your seeds.
Once you have this date, you can count backwards with your average day to maturation found on your seed packets. This will tell you when to start your planting and whether transplants or direct sowing is best.
For beginners, try these easy to grow fall garden vegetables!
Kale
One of the joys of growing in fall is kale. The striking red ribs of Russian Red Kale are perfect for kale chips. Deep textured leaves of curly blue kale makes it exceptional for tossed kale salads. The broad leaves of Siberian Kale is perfect for steaming or sautéing with little effort.
No transplanting is needed with kale, unless you are planting within 6 weeks of the first frost date. Kale loves it where it’s feet stays wet, but yet drains well. It is perfect as a boarder to a bed or to accent the striking colors of lettuce in the garden. Keep an eye out for aphids, as they love the underside of the leaves
Lettuce
Salads here, salads there, salads are everywhere! Lettuce are easy to be included in the fall vegetable garden. It is ease to grow and versatile in the kitchen. The deep burgundy colors of Rouge De Hiver. Soft splotches of red and green in Forellenschluss. Or the unique shape of Deer Tongue all make for striking contrasts to your salads. These varieties also perform quite well in the cold.
Lettuce can tolerate partial shade in the fall vegetable garden, thought quickest growth will occur in full sun. It loves to have onions as a neighbor to keep aphids away. It can be direct seeded if you have time or transplanted if you want a boost on the season. You can learn more about transplants here. If transplanting, don’t plant it too deep by keeping the crown above the soil. A prolonged harvest can be achieved by harvesting the outside leaves. This will enable to inside leaves to continue to grow, giving you a lovely harvest for weeks to enjoy.
Mustard greens
Mustard greens offer a piquant flavor to salads. Excellent steamed or sautéed to add a vegetable side. This green is a great way to sneak another vegetable into a meal as well. Quiches are a lovely medium. The pepperiness also pairs beautifully in a pine nut pesto.
Mustard greens are one of the easiest greens to grow. You could drop a seed by accident and chances are it would grow! Do be mindful, many critters (including me) love to munch on mustard greens. Pair them with garlic to keep the pesky flee beetle away. One row of garlic planted in the center will keep most any type of flee beetle far away. Plant the seeds or transplants in most any soils and they will thrive.
Radishes
Few things bring such joy as biting into a fresh, crisp radish fresh out of the garden. The clean snap. Vibrant colors. Followed by the distinct peppery bite that makes you salivate with delight. Radishes are versatile in their use. If you are hungry for a salad, toss some on! Roasted vegetables: they got you covered for the accent flavor. Throw a dash into an egg salad to make it pop.
Radishes are easy to grow and like well drained loamy soil. Although we have had great success growing them here in the red Carolina clay as well. If growing for the greens, feed extra nitrogen and you will yield large delicious leaves! If it is the radish root you are going for, it can be a little more challenging to yield the pearls of the fall. Try limiting the nitrogen in the soil and adding some potassium and phosphorus to encourage good root growth.
Peas
Crisp. Sweet. Delicious. What more could you ask for from a lovely fall crop such as peas? They are so versatile to use being delicious both raw and cooked. Snap them into a salad or steam them for a side vegetable and they are sure not to disappoint! The green varieties produce the heaviest, but there are also beautiful purple and yellow varieties available. You can even eat the flowers! Throw them into a salad or add them on top of a sandwich for an extra flair.
Peas couldn’t be easier to grow. Legumes help collect their own nitrogen through nitrogen fixing bacteria and help boost the soil for future crops. They do like to be trellised and respond great to using fish emulsion. Picking off the overgrown pods will help additional growth to flourish in your garden. Cover with agribon if it gets below 30 degrees to protect the flowers & pods.
Crops with a little more challenge
What to grow in fall vegetable garden if you have extra space? If you feel ambitious, try some of these other fun fall crops. They may be a bit more challenging, but can be grown with great success.
Broccoli
As a young lad, you had to bribe me to eat broccoli! We never got along well together until I tasted a fresh piece of broccoli right out of the garden. The flavor is sweeter and a little nutty with a hint of earthiness. Such a lovely crisp texture with an aroma that I still yet need to get used to, but am growing to love.
Broccoli loves nitrogen. Side dress with your favorite nitrogen source every 3-4 weeks for the first 12 weeks. This will help establish a strong and healthy plant to hopefully yield you a gorgeous head of broccoli. It loves fish emulsion and thrives in the cold. When it begins to form a head, make sure to cover if there is a chance of frost. The best time to pick broccoli is right when the tiny flowerets begin to pucker as if they were opening.
Beets
Beets are definitely worthy for a spot in the top 10 fall crops to grow. The earthy flavor, vibrant colors, and incredible texture makes it an easy choice to grow. Oven roasting is one of our favorite ways to use beets with a pinch of extra course sea salt. Just be careful as red beets have a tendency to stain anything they touch!
They can be started successfully by seed, but don’t be surprised if you have to wait until spring for harvest. You may have better luck with transplants which mature in less than a quarter of the time! Beets take their time maturing, making them easy targets for pests and diseases. Keeping extra moisture off the leaves help prevent disease. Keep dead plant matter cleaned up to enable fresh air around the plants. This also helps to keep pesky pests away as well.
Carrots
Carrot oh carrot. Where doth thou hide? Fall carrots promise a sweet, crisp snack for the patient gardener. They like to take their time growing and are difficult to know when they have grown. With the whole root underground, we suggest using a finger to go around the carrot to see if it is ready! They are my favorite root crop with the sweet flavor, lovely snap, and incredible variety of uses. Don’t forget they also last for months if stored properly!
Carrots love deep loamy soil with a good sand content. This is challenging to achieve, especially if you have heavy clays. One trick we have found is to grow the old Ox Heart carrot variety. Not only is it delicious and large, but it also handles heavier soils quite well. Broad forking before planting can help break up the soil. Don’t forget to use liquid kelp to help with great root development!
Kohlrabi
Kohl what? If you haven’t stumbled upon this incredible vegetable, give it a try! With a flavor mixed between a turnip and water chestnut, it is a lovely vegetable for roasting, in soups, or sautéed. The skin is tough and needs to be removed before eating. This thick skin helps to prolong the shelf life making it a perfect root cellar crop.
Kohlrabi loves nitrogen early in it’s life just like broccoli. Similar growing practices work great. To help increase the bulb size, use additional phosphorus and potassium after 12 weeks. When the bulbs reach baseball to softball size, they are ready for harvest! Simply pull out of the ground, trim the leaves and roots, wash, and store.
Onions
Should onions be a choice among the list to grow in fall vegetable garden? We believe they are a fantastic choice! Not only are fresh onions spectacular for use in the kitchen. They also offer the lovely advantage of deterring pests that feast on other tender crops. Scallions are another great choice to add additional pizazz to your kitchen dishes.
Keep an eye on day length of onions. For southern states, use short or mid day length onions. For northern states, you are free to grow the long day varieties offering a longer storage life. You can also choose between onion sets, seed, or plants. For larger bulbs, plants are a great place to start. For ease of growing, sets are perfect. Plant them by lettuce or kale to help keep aphids all winter.
May your carrots grow long and straight. May your lettuce never be bitter. May your broccoli grow tall and your radishes colorful. Best of luck this growing season!