I previously categorized my veggie seeds as either cool or warm veggies based on when their main growing season was. Once I read one of Niki Jabbour’s books, it made sense for us northern gardeners to have the third category of Cold Season Vegetables. Don’t worry if you hate being outside when it is super cold, you can always grow these veggies as cool season vegetables which will talk about soon.
Overall most of the following veggies can be planted/sowed way earlier than other ones!
Your growing season for the following greens can be extended earlier in the spring and later in the fall with cold frames and/or hoop tunnels with garden fabric and/or plastic:
Arugula, Bok Choy, Chinese/Napa Cabbage, Claytonia, Collards, Kale, Lettuce (some varieties), Mache, Mibuna, Mizuna, Mustard, Spinach, Swiss Chard, Tatsoi
Brussels Sprouts – This veggie tolerates frost in the fall and early winter
Carrots – Like parsnips, this veggie gets sweeter with frost. If you want to keep carrots in the ground over the cold season, you will want to provide several inches of mulch.
Garlic – For good bulb production, garlic should be planted in the fall and harvested in midsummer the next year.
Leeks – There are some leek varieties that mature quickly and those can be planted in the early spring. Other varieties are very long maturing and tolerate the cold weather in the late fall and winter. I typically grow the quick maturing types.
Parsnips – This veggie gets sweeter after a few hard frosts in late fall/early winter. If you want to keep parsnips in the ground over the cold season, they don’t need much protection.
You might want to consider the cold, cool and warm season vegetables when planning your garden and raised beds. I typically grow the cold and cool season vegetables that have the same growing patterns in one or two raised bed(s) so I can focus on my spring and fall garden.
You can find this information in the future under Vegetables and then Vegetables Seasons in the dropdown menu.
