If you’re looking to add a little color and flavor to your life this fall, we have good news: You can start a seasonal vegetable garden in almost any climate, though your crops will vary depending on your location. Gardeners in hardiness zones eight and up, who have waited patiently through the hazy heat of summer, can finally get all sorts of vegetable plants started, including tender tomatoes and eggplant. Likewise, green thumbs in northern climates will find success growing vegetables that enjoy the cooler, shorter days of fall, like leafy greens, root vegetables, cabbage, broccoli, and kale.
To ensure your fall garden grows to maturity before winter sets in, start seeding your crops in mid to late summer – conveniently, around the same time your spring-sown crops are winding down for the season.
These 8 vegetables are easy to grow even for a beginner gardener. They do best when daytime temperatures start dipping into the 70s and nights are in the 40s and 50s. Be sure to start your seeds while the weather is still warm. If you wait until it cools off considerably, it might already be too late for most crops.
Radishes
Radishes are a short season vegetable that can be ready for harvesting in 6 weeks. These veggies grow really quickly and it is extremely easy to start growing them any time during the fall, especially with how low maintenance they are!
Kale
Kale is one of the greatest vegetables to grow in the Fall. This tasty vegetable can be grown indoors and outdoors, which makes it a perfect fit for any garden! It is highly recommended for its several health benefits, but also because it’s an easy addition to any meal. There are many varieties of Kale available- some better suited than others depending on your preferences or location – so we recommend starting with these three:
- Nero Di Toscana
- Siberian
- Borecole Red
Carrots
There is no doubting the ability of carrots to be a healthy and delicious crop for any season. They’re popular in cooking, medicine, and even helping you see better! For example, eating these raw will protect your eyesight from getting worse over time.
Beets
When starting beets in the summer, they may need some shade cover to get started, but the cooler soil temperatures in fall when the beets are maturing will produce sweeter beets. They can handle some light frost and will grow all the way up until the first hard freeze. Beets store well in the refrigerator or can be pickled or canned.
Lettuce
Lettuce is one of the quickest crops you can grow, with baby leaves of some varieties ready in about 3 to 4 weeks. Plant a mix, or mesclun, for the best salad combination of different colors and textures. Lettuce also grows well in pots and window boxes because its roots are so shallow, but it’s not happy in the heat, so give it a little afternoon shade and keep the soil moist while waiting for it to sprout.
Turnips