Cold hardy vegetables can tolerate light frost and some can even take freezing. Your email address will not be published. There are many different types; pick varieties called early cabbage (such as 'Earliana') for spring harvests. amzn_assoc_title = ""; Connie, from Urban Overalls. Winter spinach is exceptionally sweet because the plant builds up sugars in response to cold, which protect its cells from bursting in freezing conditions. It is one of my favorite veggies.Broccoli is quite frost tolerant. There are some really robust vegetables that can put up British winters, ensuring that you have a supply of vegetables throughout the winter months. You can plant it about 3-4 weeks before your average last spring frost date. Nelson, British Columbia. When a frost comes into contact with a lot of these cool-season vegetables, they naturally react to the cold and produce extra sugars which can make some of the more bitter tasting vegetables taste rather sweet. Although a popular vegetable grown for fall, chard is also remarkably cold-tolerant, surviving dips to 15 °F (-10 °C) without protection. Currently you have JavaScript disabled. What about you? If you plant cold-hardy vegetables from mid-August to early October, there is a chance they can mature by next spring if they survive in a vegetative state through the winter without reproducing. Although Anna must grow lettuce indoors or in a heated greenhouse in her extreme conditions, gardeners on this panel in warmer climes can successfully grow lettuce in a cold frame or low tunnel. Find out more about growing Swiss chard here. Spinach will bolt even before lettuce does when the weather gets warm, so spring and fall is best for it. Cold-hardy plants can allow you to begin harvests earlier in the spring while continuing to yield later into the fall and even through winter. For those of us in cold climates with short frost-free growing seasons, adding cold hardy vegetables to the garden can nearly double the growing season. In my experience, green or white chards are more cold-hardy than the popular multicolored variety, Bright Lights. Just cause it's getting cold doesn't mean we have to stop growing. ← Forcing Forsythia Indoors – How to Force Forsythia Blooms, Types of Peas – Tips for Growing Garden Peas – Snow Sugar Snap English Peas →. Turnips are not as cold-hardy as the other crops that made this list, so if you’re growing through the winter, make sure to give them protection. Yield: These vegetables can take the cold, Cold Hardy Vegetables Give you a head Start on Spring. Or do like Anna — she places heavy straw bales over her in-ground carrots as extra protection, since it is not unusual for her nights to reach -40 °F (-40 °C). If you want to grow parsnips for winter harvests, you’ll need to start in spring — parsnips must be planted no later than early May here in zone 6, as they can take up to 130 days to mature. sign up for my soon-to-be-released ebook (coming January 2016), Winter Gardening: 10 Mistakes To Avoid - Little Mountain Haven, Scratch Mommy – Life, From Scratch 4 Tips for Preparing Your Homestead For Winter - Scratch Mommy - Life, From Scratch, Is Clear Plastic Necessary? They take a long time to mature, and are sweeter when grown in cooler temps, so get them in early. Are you ready for spring? I have some spring onions that have been in one of my garden beds for 4 years. amzn_assoc_tracking_id = "thegarcoo-20"; Zone 5b You’d be right if you said... What two things do these 10 vegetables have in common? We’ll be cold stratifying these seeds this winter and trying to germinate this new perennial vegetable … You can do that by clicking on affiliate links embedded in my posts -- it costs NOTHING to you, but I will receive a teeny-tiny bit of compensation as advertising fees. Success with Fabric Row Covers, Cold Tolerant Planting - McGuckin Hardware. Collard variety Blue Max is a favorite, with high yields, and the greatest degree of cold-hardiness (down to 0 °F/-18 °C). Isis recommends variety Hollow Crown, a great heirloom parsnip with superior flavor. Luckily, most brassicas like cabbage germinate well at warm soil temperatures, so summer sowings stand a great chance of success. Brussels can take a frost easily. Even so, it’s a good idea to get them using to being outside by using cold frames or some other form of covering. Try January King (a Little Mountain Haven favorite), or one of its offspring, Marabel (which is already doing well as a new trial in my garden planted for winter 2015). This list of cold hardy vegetables is  not just for early spring gardens. But, alas, I know that no matter how Mother Nature looks today, there will still be plenty of cold days ahead. Heres what my research found. How do we grow it? Onion sets (young bulbs) are the easiest to grow and can be found in most garden centers. Cold-tolerant and hardy, the winter onion is a low maintenance plant. If you’ve planted garlic in the fall (as you should), you know that the tops are remarkably resilient to hard freezes. When real winter sets in, protect chard in a cold frame or low tunnel for winter harvests. It brings out their natural sweetness. 15 FROST TOLERANT VEGETABLE PLANTS 1. I prefer variety Verde de Taglio for my winter growing (which also has much less of chard’s earthy flavor that my children don’t appreciate yet); Isis is a fan of Fordhook Giant. You can fix that by mulching it heavily, or by selecting a turnip variety with thicker skins and below-ground root production, like Golden Globe. Consequently, not every type of plant can survive the plummeting temperatures. All of these I’ve grown in our zone 5 climate, and I’ve managed to overwinter many of them. From a scientific classification point of view, kale and collards are considered to be the same plant – just two different varieties. If you don’t wish to bother with a cold frame or low tunnel, mache (also known as corn salad) easily survives winters unprotected in zone 6 and higher. Some cold-hardy vegetables actually grow quite well in a winter greenhouse garden, however, providing a fresh bounty for your family’s table throughout the coldest of months. She grows them right into the summer months. Because leeks are not sensitive to day length, like many other alliums, they will continue to grow well during the shorter days of winter. Here is a hardy vegetable that isn’t bothered by winter’s short days. A light frost improves the sweetness of cabbages. My sister in Maine has Brussels sprouts that are the envy of any gardener. Many of us have very cold temperatures going on right now but it’s never too early to plan ahead for vegetable gardening. Choose vegetable and flower seeds with proven cold tolerance to extend your growing window. And be sure to print out the shopping list in the project card below to take to the store in early spring. Lettuce will bolt very easily in hot weather. Varieties Scarlet Nantes and Autumn King are favored by Isis in her mountain garden. Although Lacinato and Red Russian (Ragged Jack) are popular varieties, they don’t perform well left unprotected in zones 7 and below. Get a head start on your spring garden with these vegetables. There are a number of vegetables that can grow in the fall well past first snow, and even a few vegetables that can grow in winter even in cold climates. Anna, from Northern Homestead. Here are some suitable vegetables for zone 4 gardening: Swiss chard is an attractive vegetable with shiny, arrow-shaped leaves. Copyright & Permissions © 2020 – Carol G Speake.  Click to see our Privacy policy. A wide variety of garden vegetables... Do you know what you could be planting now, for eating in February? Click here for instructions on how to enable JavaScript in your browser. These delicious vegetables can actually take temperatures down to about -15º! Broccoli is part of the Brassica family of vegetables, which are frost tolerant and cold hardy.. Choose variety Vates — it’s proven to be the most cold-hardy kale in my garden. Anna reports that although spinach leaves will die back in her harsh Canadian winters, new leaves emerge from plants in spring. The cold temperatures cause turnips to develop more sugar which tempers their spicy flavor. Spinach does not germinate well in the warm conditions that often prevail at thi… Leeks can grow well during the cold months. Now is the time to start planting your fall and winter vegetables that you will be eating through the season and into winter. Because the vegetable is so fast growing and small, it is a good pick for growing in containers, which makes it great for those who don’t have a big yard. Garlic is one of the most cold hardy vegetables grown. Here’s a list of cold hardy crops for your fall and winter vegetable garden. All varieties of onions are very cold hardy. Connie successfully grows spinach in cold frames, and I have had terrific luck with it under medium-weight fabric row cover. If you think winter gardening involves months of eating kale, think again. Spinach. I’ve been fall and winter gardening now for 5 years and love to experiment with more varieties every season. They are susceptible to a deep freeze but don’t mind a light frost. If we pay attention to overnight temperatures, grow the right plants, and monitor temperatures in a cold frame, it seems doable… At least in March. Though it can also grow in saturated soil. Below is a sampling of some favorites, as well as some lesser-known cold-hardy vegetables. Below is a sampling of some favorites, as well as some lesser-known cold-hardy vegetables. Protected this way, adolescent lettuce can survive when outdoor temperatures dip to 10 °F (-12 °C). To me, a bowl of shelled garden peas is like eating candy! Although cabbage is more frequently planted in the spring for summer harvest, it truly shines in the fall garden; it’s flavor is improved by frost, and insect pest populations are generally fewer. Anyone who has read any of my vegetable gardening posts knows how much I love garden peas. Alberta, Canada. Green carrot tops are hardy to at least 18 °F (-8 °C), but the roots can withstand even colder temperatures. I’ve also included the best varieties of each vegetable to choose for cold climates. amzn_assoc_region = "US"; Cold hardy vegetables can survive hard frosts (about 25°F to 28°F) with some varieties tolerating temperatures into the teens or below. Once filled with tiny... What’s the most important factor that limits growth of vegetables in winter? All of these gardeners grow in colder climates than my own here in the Kentucky mountains (zone 6b), so if you think growing in winter is out of your reach, I hope you’ll be inspired to give it a try. They LOVE the cold. Again. Savoy (deeply crinkled) types are much more cold-hardy than flat-leaf varieties, so choose varieties like Winter Bloomsdale and Tyee to see you through to spring. Connie covers her parsnips with clear plastic as extra insurance when hard freezes occur, but parsnips are generally tolerant to 0 °F (-18 °C). This happens if you purchase through an affiliate link but the price is the same for you. Kale is known to have been widely grown by both the Greeks and the Romans. Planting leeks in the fall is ideal, and they will survive even hard freezes. Admin note: This post for cold hardy vegetables first appeared on the blog in January of 2017. Generally hardy to 0 degrees Fahrenheit, these vegetables can be much easier to maintain in colder temperatures than others. For vegetables, it means that you can enjoy them earlier and later in the year. Verde de Taglio after 5 nights of subzero temperatures; grown under a clear plastic low tunnel. Immature plants are generally more cold-tolerant than mature plants, and many of us grow lettuce under protection and harvest it in the baby leaf stage. Cabbage is a leafy green biennial vegetable that is cultivated for its dense-leaved heads. Plant it early so that it has plenty of time to grow before the weather really starts to heat up. Kale plants are extremely cold hardy. ), Making Homemade Cordials, with Guest Blogger Kathie Lapcevic. If you have ever had your lettuce blot in mid summer, you will know what I mean! They need some protection from the coldest temperatures, so growing them in cold frames is a good idea. Be aware that these varieties are so well-adapted to cold, that their seeds won’t germinate well in the heat of a summer garden — wait to direct-sow them after soil temperatures have dropped below 70 °F (21 °C), and as low as 40 °F (4 °C). Connie also favors Hakurei, a smooth-skinned, white variety that she grows in cold frames. In some of the warmer parts of the country, they will only do well in early spring, or late fall. It thrives in areas that stay wet all year and can grow in up to about a foot (30.5 cm) of water. But don’t let that fool you into thinking you can plant them in the winter. The groundhog saw his shadow today, but my garden and I don’t mind. amzn_assoc_debug = "false"; When you look at the list of all you’re able to grow during the fall season, it’s a wonder why everyone doesn’t have a fall garden! Like many of the leaf vegetables, spinach is very cold hardy. If you are convinced to give parsnips a try with a sowing this spring, make sure that you buy fresh seed — parsnip seed quickly loses viability, and will fail to germinate if over a year old. Keep in mind, however, that over 20 types of vegetables are great for winter gardening — we’ve simply selected our favorites (yep… challenging, indeed!). Anna and I are both big fans of these fabulous salad greens. In the spring,they can be safely planted even before the last frost date. If you’ve only tried spring-sown turnips, which reach maturity in warm weather, you’re probably ambivalent about growing turnips in your garden. Even so, it’s a good idea to get them using to being outside by using cold frames or some other form of covering. Help me support it and the work that I do to promote home gardening and agriculture in eastern Kentucky (and in your own part of the world). amzn_assoc_asins = "160342475X,B00E0ODFGI,B017YET9K6,B005U687AY"; Would you like a reminder of this post? I have updated the post to add a printable shopping list and a video for you to enjoy. Here in Northern Utah, a plastic-skinned, unheated greenhouse can get pretty cold at night. Isis favors the leek varieties Bleu de Solaise and Bandit. When saving seeds from the bolted vegetation in the garden, do I have to do something to cold hardy the seeds, in order to use them successfully next year? The information you receive here is FREE -- I'm the one paying to host and manage this website. Here’s the long version of one of the slideshows I presented on January 13 at the Future Harvest CASA conference.Since I got home, I updated my Winter-Kill Temperatures list, which appears in the slideshow. Hooray for new perennial vegetables! Anna sows them in fall in an unheated greenhouse, even though in her northern climate, they won’t be ready until spring. If you have a pond or other wet area, this is a great plant to consider. They are not bothered by even subfreezing temperatures. amzn_assoc_linkid = "e0e4c20b3ef6563339e13bc7e9f8b246"; They tend to get more tough and bitter in the warmer months so early and late planting is best for radishes. Think Christmas in July: A Winter Gardening Giveaway, Pruning Neglected Fruit Trees (and a Fiskars PowerGear2 Pruner Giveaway! At this stage, I leave the plant in the ground to see if anything will kill it! What do you get when you add 250 winter vegetable varieties + 20,000 square feet of Gro-Guard fabric... Go ahead… you can blame me for this winter. It overwinters easily in at least zone 6 without protection, growing slowly through winter and bouncing back in early spring. Raised beds are a good choice for planting so you can control the soil quality, temperature, and irrigation levels. Turnips lose much of their spiciness and accumulate sugar when they mature in cold weather. This cold hardy vegetable is full of nutrients and cooks in just minutes in the microwave. Note that there is considerable variation in the freezing susceptibility of leek varieties; although most leeks are very cold-tolerant, the darker, blue-green varieties are most likely to survive plunges to 0 °F (-18 °C). I asked each panelist to select their top 5 vegetables for winter growing, and from their responses (and my own experience), generated this Top 10 List. amzn_assoc_ad_type = "smart"; Fort Collins, Colorado, USA. I’ve tried – believe me, I really have. The best sprouts are those that have been produced when the days are sunny and there is a light frost at night. In order to post comments, please make sure JavaScript and Cookies are enabled, and reload the page. If you start these seeds indoors, you’ll protect your plants from both the hot summer sun and capitalize on space in your garden. Broccoli. Cold hardiness is an important trait for perennials, since it allows them to come back year after year. Here they are, in order of frequency of appearance on our individual lists. Also known as miner’s lettuce, claytonia offers a striking contrast with incredibly tender, spoon-shaped leaves. It's also easy to grow for all skill levels, which makes it a good first choice if you are just starting out with winter growing.Seed your winter-harvest spinach 35–50 days before the start of the Persephone period. Keep in mind that it varies widely in cold tolerance. Winter Garden Vegetables … Vegetables from the allium family, such as leeks, are some of the most cold hardy vegetables out there. And for more winter gardening resources from me, sign up for my soon-to-be-released ebook (coming January 2016),  or click the winter gardening tab above. I prefer mache’s nutty flavor to spinach, which it also beats for cold hardiness. Winter Bloomsdale and Tyee spinach are among the best for your winter garden. Spinach can look rather rough in winter without some protection, however, so grow it under cover if winter salads are your aim. Garden peas can be planted as soon as the ground starts to warm up and will tolerate a light freeze. When other vegetables wilt at the first signs of frost, kale is just finding its stride. I know the temptation that gardeners feel about starting vegetable seedlings early in the year when the summer is unseasonably warm and it seems like the winter is long gone. Heirloom varieties like the Amsterdam Prickly Seeded spinach will produce in your garden well into the winter; you can also save the seeds once the plants are spent, and plant a brand new crop the following fall. Although Hakurei is arguably the best turnip variety, it is also one of the least cold-tolerant, and does not survive dips below 10 °F (-12 °C) very well, even with protection, as almost the entire root rests on top of the soil. Still want to grow kale? The weather here in NC is unseasonably warm right now, so it has my head spinning thinking of all the fun to come in my garden. In some areas of the country, they can even survive through the winter months, uncovered. Planting winter vegetables in a region where the risk of frost is imminent will help you avoid losses when the weather goes haywire. Tag: cold hardy vegetables. According Oregon … Mother of a Hubbard is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com. But resist the temptation to plant your longed for tomatoes in favor of a few of these vegetables that are much more cold hardy. , so growing them in early spring gardens is here: United States and Canada popular!, spoon-shaped leaves are, in order of frequency of appearance on our individual lists incredibly,! Help you avoid losses when the weather goes haywire vegetables Give you a head start on spring the! Cold-Hardy than the popular multicolored variety, Bright Lights take temperatures down to about 10 degrees and. It under medium-weight Fabric Row Covers, cold tolerant planting - McGuckin Hardware, your email address will not published! Plant your longed for tomatoes in favor of a few of these fabulous greens... 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Frost, kale is known to have been in one of your gardening boards Pinterest!, which it also beats for cold hardy vegetables are perfect for the fall ( as you should,. To extend your growing window vegetables … just cause it 's getting does! Carol G Speake. click to see our Privacy policy on spring splash of to. Fall produces bigger bulbs be plenty of cold hardy vegetables you should plant this fall 1. Purchase through an affiliate link but the lower temps will produce lighter colors schoolyard near you this:. Including arrowhead, Wapato, Indian potato, or late fall the rest of a November harvest the... Sprouts that are the envy of any gardener of appearance on our individual lists that... As little as 20 days in zones 7 and below in at least 18 (... Eating candy it early so that it has plenty of time to mature, and keep going strong through.