Fall edible bedding plants-time to plant!

Late fall edible garden

Sunday, September 29, 2019

Now is the time to put out your transplants for your winter garden.  Winter producing varieties are the really hardy cold crops that thrive in the cool temperatures of spring, fall and winter. To get the longest harvest possible, look for varieties that say “cold hardy”, “early winter”, “overwintering”, “winter-hardy”, “cold tolerant”, “bred for winter production.”  

With cover, the following will allow you to harvest all winter: arugula, beets, chicory, corn salad, lettuce, mustard greens, parsley root, radicchio, radishes, spinach, and swiss chard.  Edible garden bed winter prep

The following don’t require covering: brussels sprouts, winter harvest cabbage, carrots, collards, kale, kohlrabi, leeks, bunching onions or Egyptian onions, parsnips, rutabagas, turnips, salad burnet.

Any perennial greens can also be planted now.  Your perennial greens and overwintering varieties are the first up in the spring.

If you didn’t start seeds, big box stores, local nurseries and even mail order nurseries have begun to have fall planting veggies so you can still get transplants to plant in time for fall, winter, and spring harvests.  Our local Ace Hardware store has cabbage, broccoli, kale, lettuce, chives, collards, spinach, and mustard greens.

*Asparagus (planted now for spring)

*Sprouting broccoli and broccoli (will come back in the spring, too)

*Cabbage (at this point, look for ones with the shortest days to maturity)

*Carrots (can be pulled all winter)

*Chard (will survive winters if placed in a sheltered area and mulched or in the greenhouse)

*Collard Greens (a southern favorite)

*Corn salad (also called Mache)

*Egyptian walking onions (harvest all winter in a pot or ground)

*Garlic, shallots, leeks (can be planted into November)

*Kale (will survive all winter into spring in a greenhouse)

*Lettuce (can germinate at temps as low as 40 degrees F)

*Mustard greens (love Giant Red and Ruby Streaks)

*Bunching onions (depending on type, ready to harvest Oct-Dec)

*Overwintering onions (all onions can be left in the ground in Zone 6/7)

*Overwintering peas

*Radishes (can be pulled all through winter)

*Rutabaga

*Salad burnet (a perennial has a fresh cucumber/cilantro taste)

*Sorrel (a perennial that has a tart taste kind of like Granny Smith apples)

*Spinach (will survive the winter to mature in early spring in the greenhouse)

Your transplants will grow quickest in the earliest part of fall, slowing down as daylight hours decrease.  From November to mid-January, there will be minimal growth.

Fall and winter harvested veggies are at their crispest and sweetest after a light frost.  The cold temps concentrate the sugars, making them extra yummy!