How to Start a Fall Garden: Best Fall Vegetables to Grow

Last Updated on October 26, 2023

Summertime, and the livin’s easy… and time to start thinking about your winter or fall garden! Wait… what? Yep, it sure is. Perhaps your tomatoes aren’t even ripen yet, but early to mid-summer is the perfect time to plan a fall garden – and possibly even start sowing seeds for it! Whether you’re new to fall gardening, or simply curious to see our favorite vegetable varieties to grow in fall, follow along for plenty of helpful tips and fresh ideas.

In this guide, you will learn everything you need to know to successfully grow a fall garden. First we’ll talk about when and how to start a fall garden, including the best time to start seeds and plant a fall garden in YOUR zone – with planting schedules provided for every USDA hardiness zone. We’ll also explore the best vegetables to grow in fall (or even over winter), including our personal favorite varieties of cool season crops like cabbage, broccoli, carrots, leafy greens, and even some flowers!

This post will also cover which fall vegetables can tolerate a light frost vs hard freeze, along with several ways to extend your fall growing season and help plants survive late heat waves or early frost. Last but not least, I’ve provided tips on how to turnover or clear, fertilize, and prepare garden beds before fall planting.

Click here to jump straight to the list of our favorite fall varieties

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Need Fall Seeds?

As you go through our list of favorite fall vegetable varieties, you’ll quickly notice they’re almost all from High Mowing Seeds. That’s where we get 99% of our seeds these days! High Mowing is a fantastic small certified organic seed company that offers a wide variety of quality veggie, flower and herb seeds.

Timing: When should I plant a fall garden?

The best time to plant a fall garden depends on your climate and zone. In most places, the fall garden is planted in August or September, but there is no one-size-fits all. As a general rule of thumb, the earlier your area receives frosty winter weather, the sooner you need to plant your fall garden. Meaning, gardeners in northern regions (lower zones) with shorter growing seasons need to get started earlier in the summer than folks in southern climates or higher zone climates, especially if you want to grow from seed.

Find planting calendars for every zone here. The planting schedule will show you a timeframe of when to start seeds indoors, transplant seedlings outside, or plant seeds directly outdoors. Then, check out this tutorial with best practices for starting seeds indoors. If you realize you’re running late, don’t worry! You can always buy and plant fall seedlings from a local nursery if you miss the ideal seed-starting window. Here are some tips on how to select the best seedlings at the nursery. 

Here on the temperate Central Coast of California (zone 9), we start our cool season vegetable seeds indoors (in our “grow room”) in mid-August. Then we transplant fall seedlings outdoors in late September to early October. Except for root veggies, which are directly sowed right in the garden beds around the same time we transplant seedlings. Then, most of our fall crops grow right through winter! Most folks will need to start sooner however, so plants have a chance to mature before freezing weather comes.

Related: Garden Zones 101: New Hardiness Zone Map, Planting Charts, and Limitations

When is it too late to plant a fall garden?

In addition to your climate, timing depends on what fall vegetables you’re growing. Some fast-growing fall crops can be ready to harvest within as little as 30 days after planting, while others take several months to mature. Even more, some plants are sensitive to frost (so you’ll want those to mature and harvest before it arrives) while other fall crops are quite cold-hardy, and easily withstand frost once established. See a list of frost-tolerant vegetables below.

One method is to look at the first frost date for your area – or the average time of year the first fall or winter frost will arrive. (Frost dates are marked on our planting calendars, though they may vary slightly due to microclimates). Then, pay attention to the days to maturity of the vegetable variety you’re growing – which is the time it takes to mature after transplanted .

For instance some cauliflower varieties can mature within 45 days, while other cauliflower varieties take up to 90. With a little math and looking at the calendar, you should be able to work backwards and estimate if that crop will have time to mature before freezing conditions arrive. (But again, many fall crops can survive frost.)

A word of caution for gardeners with mild winters like ours: even if you don’t get frost or hard freezes, don’t wait too long to plant your fall garden! Seedlings planted in the middle of winter will grow slowly and struggle to thrive because of the shorter days (less sun) and cooler soil temperatures at that time. We see a huge difference in the seedlings we plant in early October over those we’ve attempted to plant in November, which essentially stall out.

Feeling pressed for time? See 13 Fast-Growing Vegetable Fall Crops here – all of which are ready to harvest within 60 days! Plus, keep reading to see several ways to extend your fall garden season below.

What types of vegetables should I grow in a fall garden? 

Fall is a marvelous time to grow cool season crops that thrive in colder weather, including leafy greens, brassicas, root vegetables, and more. Our favorite varieties of each is included at the end of this post!

Fall crops include:

• Arugula
• Beets
• Bok choy, tatsoi and other Asian greens
• Broccoli
• Brussels Sprouts
• Cabbage
• Carrots
• Cauliflower
• Celery
• Fava Beans
• Garlic (ready to harvest the following spring/summer)
• Kohlrabi
• Kale
• Lettuce
• Mustard Greens
• Onions and leeks
• Other leafy greens
• Peas (snap peas and snow peas)
• Radishes (including daikons)
• Romanesco
• Spinach
• Swiss Chard
• Turnips

Spring vs Fall Planting

The fall garden is also a great opportunity for a second chance to grow cool season vegetables that maybe didn’t grow well in early spring, or things you forgot to plant or didn’t have space for. 

While many cool season crops can grow during spring OR autumn, some are much happier in the fall! Seedlings grow quickly during the long, sunny days of late summer, but mature to harvest later when the weather is cool – which many of them prefer. In fact, some crops taste better and sweeter after a light frost, including kale, cabbage, carrots, turnips, beets, leeks, and radishes. The arrival of cooler weather and shorter days will also slow or prevent bolting (when plants prematurely flower and go to seed) – a common issue for spring-planted cool season crops.

Also, many of the vegetables on the list above aren’t exclusively cool season crops! Some of them can also be grown in the summer in mild climates, or with the right care and a thoughtful selection of varieties.

Are there any flowers you can plant in the fall?

Absolutely! There are a number of beautiful flowers that grow in the fall, and some that are even frost-tolerant. Marigolds, mums, pansies, violas, calendula, snapdragons, strawflower, aster, and rudbeckia are a few great examples. Keep the color poppin’ and pollinators happy in your garden with these 18 flowers that bloom during fall. Like fall veggie crops, it’s best to start fall flowers in the summertime and plant them by late summer to early autumn – since seedlings will be more sensitive to cold snaps. Once established, we’re able to grow chamomile, marigolds, calendula, snapdragons, and more right through winter here in zone 9! (Though they definitely grow and bloom more slowly during winter.)

Starting Early and Extending the Growing Season

Does your garden swiftly change from scalding summer heat to a chilly frosty fall? To be frank, rapidly changing conditions can make it a tad more challenging to start a fall garden… but not impossible! With a few adjustments, you can easily extend your fall growing season by a month or two in each direction. 

Starting Fall Seeds

First, I suggest to get a jump start by starting fall vegetable seeds indoors in the summer. While it is possible to start them outside, cool season seedlings won’t appreciate extreme heat and will be more prone to bolting early. Plus, your garden beds are likely still full of summer veggies anyways, right? I know we don’t have space to direct-sow fall crops during summer…

By starting seeds inside, you can provide fall seedlings with ideal climate-controlled conditions, consistently moist soil, protection from birds, insects, and other undesirable elements while your summer garden finishes up. Just be sure to properly harden off indoor seedlings before transitioning them outdoors to prevent shock and damage. If your summers aren’t brutally hot and you can adequately protect them, feel free to start seeds outside if you prefer. Plus, there’s no shame in NOT starting from seed either – and picking up nursery seedlings later in the summer to early fall instead!

Related resources: Indoor Seed Starting and Seedling Care Guide, 7 Useful Indoor Seed Starting Supplies, and 9 Common Seed-Starting Mistakes to Avoid

Protecting Fall Seedlings and Plants

After planting fall seedlings outside, you may need step in and protect young seedlings from temperature extremes. If early fall is still exceedingly hot in your area, tender cool season crops (such as lettuce and leafy greens) will appreciate a little shade cloth on the hottest days – along with ample moisture and mulch. As winter approaches, frost blankets or cloches can save your plants on chilly nights – allowing them to live for several more weeks to months.

Hoops and row covers are fabulous season-extending tools, which can be used to cover plants with shade cloth or frost blanket row covers as needed. We also use our hoops and fine insect netting row covers to protect young seedlings from the wrath of birds and insects. Mulch is also essential to keep plants happy and extend the growing season! In addition to helping with moisture retention and weed suppression, mulch insulates the soil and protect plant roots from temperature swings.

Related resources: Learn more about using hoops and row covers in this article, including various hoop options, frost blanket weights, shade cloth types, and more. Or, visit these guides on how to protect your garden from heat waves or frost for even more ideas.

What vegetables can tolerate frost?

Almost all fall vegetables that can tolerate some frost once established. For example, celery, bok choy, peas, Chinese cabbage, and most lettuce can tolerate light frost (31 to 34 F). Other fall vegetables can withstand a true hard freeze (below 28F) including beets, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, carrots, garlic, kohrabi, kale, onions, leeks, radishes, romanesco, spinach, and turnips. Exact cold temperature tolerance depends on variety.

Frost-sensitive fall vegetables: All young seedlings are susceptible to frost damage, especially indoor-grown seedlings recently transplanted outside. Tender greens like lettuce, bok choy, mustard greens, fava beans, or other thin-leafed greens may be damaged in frost, though the plant (roots) can survive and continue to grow. Finally, heat-loving summer crops like tomatoes, basil, eggplant, peppers, squash, beans and melon cannot tolerate frost or freezing conditions.

Last year we invested in a nifty home weather station to better monitor our fall garden temperatures. We found it was consistently about 5 degrees colder overnight at our homestead than the weather predicted, so now we can be more watchful and prepared to bust out the frost cloth when needed!

Preparing Garden Beds for Fall Planting

When it comes time to plant fall seedlings outside, you may have some tough decisions to make. Unless you have a large garden space, chances are your garden beds are still currently occupied by summer crops.

We’ve definitely pulled tomatoes, peppers, and other summer crops that were still producing in order to get our fall garden planted on time. (Priorities!) Thankfully, most of the shorter-lived summer plants are usually on their natural decline already – such as zucchini, bush beans, spring-planted annual flowers, herbs, or leafy greens. Even if your main garden is full of things you don’t want to remove yet, you could grow some autumn crops in containers or fabric grow bags too!

To clear old plants from the garden, we usually prefer to cut them out at the soil line and leave the roots in place (no-dig or no-till style). Next, we amend the soil in our raised garden beds with slow-release organic fertilizer and well-aged compost before planting. The fall vegetables will appreciate the replenishment of nutrients that the summer crops used up! After planting, we also top off the beds with a fresh layer of mulch.

See these related guides: How to Amend & Fertilize Garden Bed Soil Between Seasons and Transplanting Seedlings Outside: Tips for Success

Choosing the best vegetable varieties for your fall garden

Before I share my list of our favorite fall vegetable varieties to grow below, keep in mind that the exact cultivars that do well in our area may not perform quite the same in yours. So, let’s quickly talk about tailoring your selections to your climate.

Seek out things that sound like they’d be good to eat AND would be happy and productive in your climate and garden. Every variety of vegetable will have a description and unique characteristics. For instance, certain broccoli varieties are more or less heat-tolerant or cold-hardy than other types of broccoli.

Read plant descriptions carefully, and be on the lookout for key words like frost-tolerant, heat-tolerant (slow to bolt), days to maturity, natural resistance to certain diseases, “excellent for cold northern climates” (or southern), larger or tighter growing habits for small spaces, soil temperature needs, and so on. Compare between a few varieties. You’ll also learn what varieties grow best in your garden with time and experimentation!

In our garden, we always lean towards varieties that have natural resistance to powdery mildew because it’s SO prevalent here. We also look for heat-tolerant or bolt-resistant cool season varieties since our fall weather is often hotter than summer! Gardeners in northern climates may want to select “early maturing” or extra cold-hardy fall cultivars.

THE BEST FALL VEGETABLE VARIETIES

Without further ado, here is a full list of our tried-and-true favorite fall vegetable varieties to grow. While we’re always open to experiment with new cultivars (and often do!) these are the trusty ones we return to year after year.

Broccoli and Cauliflower Varieties

I’m lumping these two heading brassicas together since they grow fairly similarly. Both take about two to three months from seedling to harvest. Between the two, I’m especially fond of growing cauliflower. It comes in so many beautiful colors!

• Goodman Cauliflower – A classic white cauliflower that has always grown beautifully for us. It is known to be an early-producer.
  
• Violetta Purple Cauliflower – This is one popular purple cauliflower variety. It has gorgeous large purple heads, and is moderately tolerant to frost and light freezing. Lavender is another pretty purple cauliflower we’ve enjoyed growing.
  
• Cheddar Cauliflower – Aptly named, cheddar cauliflower is a beautiful light orange color. We’ve also had great success with similar Flame Star.
  
• Romanesco – With its trippy fractal design and chartreuse green color, romanesco is a true show-stopper. It is just as delicious as it is attractive! Romanesco tastes similar to cauliflower, but more nutty and mildly sweet. 
  
• Belstar Broccoli –  We have tried various kinds of broccoli over the years, but keep coming back to Belstar. It produces fairly early medium-size tight heads. Once the main head is harvested, the plant continues to provide a ton of small side shoots – like mini heads or broccolini. It has great heat tolerance so it never bolts on us, and overwinters well in mild climates.
  
• Covina – another reliable classic broccoli variety we like. It’s known to perform well in a wide range of conditions, even under stress!
  
• De Cicco – It produces a small central head (but quickly!) and prolific side shoots thereafter, providing for a long harvest window. We treat this one more like broccolini or sprouting broccoli.

Related: How to Grow Cauliflower from Seed to Harvest

Cabbage and Brussels Sprouts Varieties

Did you know that Brussels sprouts are essentially baby heads of cabbage growing along a stalk? They’re also one of our favorite winter veggies to eat (garlic and herb balsamic-glazed roasted Brussels, anyone?) Note that cabbage and Brussels sprouts both need a long growing season to mature (up to 3 months), but will also both tolerate frost and light freezes once they’re established. 

• Expect Cabbage – My current favorite green cabbage variety with dense, uniformly round 5 to 9 pound green heads and notable heat tolerance.
  
• Megaton – Grow this for a ton of fun, and cabbage! This green variety bears massive heads up to 17 pounds, yet remain tender and sweet.
  
• Caraflex – a fun petite variety that produces small conical (pointed!) green heads on compact plants.
  
• Integro – Our trusty go-to red cabbage variety, with beautiful medium size heads. They store well, are tasty, and great raw as slaw, cooked, or fermented into kraut. We can store red cabbage in the fridge for months after harvest without it going bad! 
  
• Red Acre – Another popular and early producer of tight medium size red heads.
  
• Brunswick – This heirloom variety of green cabbage is one of our go-tos, but it does take longer to mature than some. However, it is extra cold-hardy! It produces large drumhead type (slightly flattened) heads that store well, and is awesome for all types of cabbage creations and recipes. 
  
• Emiko Napa Cabbage – our favorite compact, bolt-tolerant Napa variety.
  
• Brussels Sprouts: We grew Dagan Brussels sprouts in fall 2020 and totally loved them! Despite being in less-than-ideal conditions (a partially shaded bed in the corner of our old garden) it produced very well for us. Nautic Brussels are a great option too. The sprouts are spaced further apart on the stalk, and the plants are tall and less dense in general, leading to less disease and an easier harvest of individual sprouts. 

Related: Visit our cabbage grow guide here. Since brassicas are especially prone to aphids, so be sure to check out our organic aphid control tips! Also learn how to control cabbage worms here.

Lettuce and Leafy Green Varieties

We’re allll about the leafy greens here. They’re delicious, nutritious, easy to grow, and start producing quickly – making greens an excellent choice when you have a limited timeframe for a fall garden. And if your climate allows, they can last for a really long time too! Especially if you use the cut and come again harvest method to perpetually harvest from the same plants for many, many months like we do.

• Kale: Kale is ideal to grow in the fall and winter; it actually gets sweeter after a light frost! Many varieties can even survive snow. Our favorite varieties are Dazzling Blue, Lacinato, Red Russian, and Scarlet kale, though curly varieties like Dwarf Green Curled kale and Meadowlark kale are even more cold tolerant. You can learn more about growing kale here.
  
• Bok Choy: Joi Choi is my favorite leafy green to grow, ever. We also enjoy Prize Choy. Both have large thick stems and an open plant structure, perfect for prolonged cut-and-come-again harvesting. I only suggest tighter baby bok boy for folks with a shorter growing season, as the whole head needs to be harvested at once.
  
• Swiss chard: My favorites include the beautiful Peppermint chard, Pink passion chard, and gorgeous yellow-stemmed Sunset Chard. While it is less showy, white-stemmed Fordhook swiss chard is great too. It is slower to bolt, has huge leaves, and continues to provide over a long growing season.
  
• Mustard Greens: Yum! If you like zesty, spicy, absolutely gorgeous mustard greens, Japanese Red Giant are a must-grow. Green Wave mustards (prolific and cold tolerant) and Red Splendor (spunky mustard flavor, frilly, slow-to-bolt) are other varieties we really enjoy. 
  
• Lettuce: We love to grow Jericho romaine, Nevada, Freckles, Magenta, Red Mist, and Muir. They’re all heat tolerant (slow-bolting) which is great for our warm fall days, and have an open head structure, perfect for prolonged cut-and-come again harvests.
  
• Spinach: Space spinach and Renegade spinach are two bolt-resistant spinach varieties we enjoy to grow. Cold-climate growers should take a look at exceptionally cold-hardy Giant Winter spinach too. Flamingo spinach is another that has performed very well for us, growing on taller plants with continued production.
  
• Arugula: I love arugula! Especially Esmee arugula (more nutty than spicy, exceptionally cold tolerant) or Astro arugula (moderately spicy, excellent heat and cold tolerance, and good for cut-and-come-again harvest). 
  
• Other Asian Greens: We also always grow Yukina Savoy (similar to tatsoi but much larger leaves and more heat tolerant) Vitamin Green (similar to Yukina but less frilly), and Komatsuna greens (heat tolerant).

Root Vegetable Varieties: Carrots, Beets, Radishes and more

It is best to sow root vegetable seeds directly outside, as opposed to starting them in containers and transplanting them. They don’t like their roots disturbed and get shocked and stunted easily. Peas and beans also prefer to be directly sown. The one exception is beets. If you start beet seeds in a large enough container (such as small 4” pots), thin them early (trim out the unwanted sprouts), and transplant them before they get too large or root bound in the slightest, they usually grow just fine. See more tips on growing beets here.

• Radishes: Give me all the radishes! A few of our favorite varieties include Pink Beauty, Easter Egg, White Icicle, Sora red round, Alpine, Bravo daikons, and long white daikon .
  
• Carrots: We are always experimenting with new varieties of carrots, and love to plant a wide range of colors. Some favorites include Dolciva, Cosmic Purple, Naval, Scarlet Nantes, and more.
  
• Beets: Boro beets are my favorite classic red variety. They’re beautiful, uniform, nearly blemish-free, and stayed tender despite getting very large (perfect for extended harvests at varying sizes over several months). I also really enjoy cylindrical Formanova and gorgeous bullseye Chioggia.
  
• Turnips: Classic Purple Top White Globe turnips are awesome. While turnips aren’t necessarily my favorite root veggie, I really enjoy grating them with potatoes (half and half) to make low-carb hash browns! I also like Tokyo market turnips – small round tender white salad turnips.
  

Related: Get tips on how to successfully grow carrots in our carrot grow guide, or information about growing radishes here.

Alliums

• Garlic – Garlic is a very cold-hardy crop, traditionally planted in the fall in most places. It overwinters well even in freezing conditions (especially hardneck garlic varieties), and is ready to harvest the following late spring to early summer. Inchelium red is one we always grow, though we often experiment with other varieties too! Learn more about choosing the right garlic varieties for your climate here, including important differences between softneck and hardneck garlic. Also visit our garlic grow guide for tips on planting, ongoing care, how to harvest and cure garlic, and more.
  
  
• Onions – Spring is the best time to plant onions in most places. However, gardeners with mild winters like ours can also plant them in late summer for winter or spring harvest. We love to grow Walla Walla, Rossa Di Milano red onions, and Calibra. Short day, intermediate day, or day-neutral onion varieties usually do best over winter, given the reduced daylight hours. Get tips on growing onions from seeds, sets or seedlings here!
  
  
• Leeks – Like onions, leeks are usually a spring crop in most places, but can be planted in fall and grown over winter in places with temperate winter weather (little to no frost). We grow them year round here! A few of our favorite leek varieties include Runner, Surfer, and Tadorna. Leeks are usually categorized as “long season” or “short season” varieties. Please visit our leek grow guide to learn more, including how to choose the best varieties for your climate.

Miscellaneous

• Peas. Sugar snap peas are a spring and fall staple! We also grow snow peas on occasion, but definitely favor snap peas – for both raw eating or cooking.
  
• Fava Beans. Favas are fantastic multi-purpose plants. Because of their ability to fix nitrogen and enrich soil, fava beans are often grown as cover crops. Yet they’re really delicious too – beans and leaves included! Bees also love their unique black and white flowers. Classic Windsor fava beans are our go-to variety. Read more about growing and using fava beans here.
  
• Kohlrabi. I love this alien-like veggie! Kohlrabi is a member of the cabbage or brassica family, and tastes like a super sweet, crisp, juicy inner portion of a fat broccoli stem. Kordial, Kolibri, and Kossak kohlrabi are a few varieties we often grow.
  

And that’s when and how to grow a fall garden.

Well shoot, now I’m feeling super stoked for the upcoming growing season! How about you? I hope this guide made you feel inspired and prepared to grow an autumn garden of your own, and gave you plenty of new fresh ideas for the best fall vegetables to grow. Did I happen to miss any of your favorite things? Please let us know in the comments, or feel free to ask any questions. Thank you so much for tuning in today, and happy planting!

Other useful resources to explore:

• Seed Starting 101: How to Sow Seeds Indoors
• How to Build a Raised Garden Bed
• 7 Useful Seed Starting Supplies for Success Indoors
• A Beginner’s Guide to Using a Hobby Greenhouse
• How to Fertilize & Amend a Raised Garden Bed Before Planting (or Between Seasons)
• Composting 101: What, Why & How to Compost At Home