Vegetables to Plant for Fall – Good Fall Vegetables to Grow

 Planning a vegetable garden doesn’t have to stop when the summer ends. There are plenty of vegetables to plant for fall harvests that thrive in cooler weather and even improve in flavor after a light frost.

By choosing the right crops, you can keep your harvest going well beyond the summer season.

Fall gardens are ideal for quick-growing greens, root vegetables, and hardy brassicas. These plants tolerate lower temperatures and also take advantage of the shorter days in fall to produce crisp, sweet flavors.

Timing your planting with your region’s first expected frost date ensures you’ll get the most from your crops.

With proper planning, your fall garden can provide fresh produce for weeks and sometimes months after summer ends. From fast-growing radishes to cold-hardy kale and Brussels sprouts, fall planting gives you a productive garden when many think the season is over.

Plant in late summer to harvest in fall gardens

As far as vegetables go, gardeners should not despair.  Now is the perfect time for many to plant for a fall harvest. Clean out the old vegetable vines, till up your soil a bit, and amend it with some fresh compost.  

Then you can plant a variety of seeds in mid-summer for a wonderful harvest at the very end of the summer and even into the fall.

What to plant and when depends very much on where you live and when the first frost is expected for your area, but for my zone 7b garden, I can plant a huge variety, many of which will keep me going even in November.   

The Farmer’s Almanac has a page that you can use to determine your first frost in the fall. Enter your area and check the date of the first frost. 

From there, just look at the seed packets to find out the days to harvest and then plant those that will fit into the time frame you have left until the frost.

Vegetables that you plant in the fall can often also be planted in early spring.  See my list of the best cold hardy vegetables and when to plant them for best harvests.

Fall vegetables to plant

Planting cold-weather-loving vegetables is just one of the items of things to do on my fall gardening checklist.

Here are some vegetables to plant for fall that work well for most zones. They like the cold, and some don’t even mind the frost.  If you plant them in late summer, you’ll be enjoying fresh garden vegetables in a few months, even when the temperatures are much colder.

Onions

All onion varieties like the cold. In some parts of the country, onions are planted in early fall to establish a good root system.

They go dormant in the winter months and are then harvested the next year. This will give onions with big bulbs.

Find out more about growing onions here.

Radishes

At the top of my list of the best vegetables to plant in fall are radishes.  They can take as little as 3 weeks to mature. They will also survive a light frost, so they are a great choice for fall. 

Swiss chard

Coming in second place are lettuce, Swiss chard, kale, and collard greens. These are good fall vegetables to grow because they take about 40 days to mature, so there is still time to plant these in most zones. 

Kale and collard greens will keep going even after the colder weather, so these are a sure bet.  I discovered the taste of Swiss Chard for the first time last year, and it’s one of my favorite vegetables to grow now.

Find out more about growing Swiss chard here.

Spinach

Plant spinach seeds 6 to 8 weeks before your first expected frost date. You can harvest baby spinach leaves as soon as they are growing, or wait for full-sized plants to develop.

Beets and cabbage

Beets and cabbage take two months to harvest, but they can withstand temperatures down to 20 degrees F, which makes them one of the best fall vegetables to grow.

Garlic

This is one of the best vegetables to plant in fall.

You won’t get a crop this season by planting now, but garlic is best planted in the fall. It loves the cold, and you will be very glad you planted it now when next summer rolls around and it matures!

Broccoli

Broccoli doesn’t mind the cold at all and seems to really thrive in the fall, especially in warmer temperature zones. Get another batch of it by planting it now.

Learn more about growing broccoli here.

Brussels Sprouts

I used to hate these as a child, but I love them now.  Brussels sprouts take about three months until harvest, but are very hardy down into the 20 degrees F.  (mine went right through the winter last year and did not die.) 

This photo makes me jealous every time I look at it.  These are from my sister’s garden in Maine. 

Cauliflower

I use this veggie all the time to make recipes like cauliflower rice.  The plant takes 40 – 60 days to mature, but will also survive a light frost, so it is the perfect choice for fall gardens.

Spring onions

These hardy vegetables are one of the best fall vegetables to plant.

Green onions are easy to grow and take 60 – 70 days to mature. They will survive into the high 20 degrees F, so they are perfect for fall gardens.

I had a patch of them in my garden here in NC that grew for four YEARS before I finally dug them up. They went right through the winter just fine.

Garden peas

And finally, my favorite vegetable to plant for fall gardens is peas. They take 70 to 80 days to mature and survive into the high 20s.

Peas are often planted early in the spring. In many regions, you can also get another crop with fall planting. We get them for sale at the farmer’s market here in NC in April and October.

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For those who are lucky enough to have a late frost in fall, the vegetable garden can get a second go round. Head to The Gardening Cook to find out what to plant for fall vegetable gardens. Share on X

What are you planning to plant this year for your fall gardens?  Please leave your comments below.

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Admin note: This article about fall veggies to plant first appeared on the blog in August 2013. This post has been updated with new photos and a slideshow video about vegetable gardening on a budget.

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