Melissa K. Norris
  • Start Here
  • Podcast
  • Articles
  • Shop
    • Books
    • Classes
    • General Store
  • Academy
Log In

5 Vegetables to Plant Now For a Fall Harvest

Gardening, Raising Your Own Food, Vegetables

Some of the links below are affiliate links, which means I will earn a commission at no additional cost to you, if you click through and make a purchase. Regardless, I only link to products we use on our homestead or believe in.
5 Vegetables to Plant now for a fall harvest. Great list of vegetables to put in now to extend the growing season, plus which ones to sow from seed and which ones should be transplants. I'm sowing some more seed tomorrow

There's nothing as good as harvesting home grown vegetables from your own backyard. One of my favorite things about summer is having a free grocery store next to my house. Growing up and the first years of our marriage we planted our garden the end of May and wound up the harvest by the first of October.

Our food bill went down considerably and we naturally ate more vegetables than any other time of year. As I became more of a garden and determined to live a self-sustainable lifestyle, I really wanted to be able to grow more of our food year round. The cooler and somewhat normally soggy temperament of the Pacific Northwest seemed to make that out of the question. Do you see my extreme pouty face?

If I only planted warm weather or summer crops, the above statement is true, but cool weather and root crops, now these are a whole ‘nother story. And I love stories that take me by surprise, how about you?

Cool weather crops are sometimes grown during the summer months around here, especially in places with cooler or more mild summers, but they really thrive in the early spring and fall.

The trick, you need to plant them now in order to harvest them this fall. Seems kind a weird, right, you plant during the hottest part of the year, in the dead smack middle of summer for fall? Yep, you do.

These are some of our favorite fall and cool weather crops to grow. Depending upon your first hard frost date, you might be able to sow some of these up into September or about 4 weeks before your first hard frost. Our's is typically the tale end of October or first of November.

These are 5 vegetables to plant now for a fall harvest.

1. Carrots. Carrots are an excellent fall crop. If your winters aren't extreme, you can even leave them in the ground and cover them with a layer of straw or mulch. Plus, you get to make carrot cake and carrot muffins and baked carrots and… yea, I kind of like carrots. Carrots are best sown by seed on top of the soil. Keep soil moist until they germinate and thin once they greens are a few inches tall.

2. Beets. Beets are something I developed a taste for as an adult. But they're like carrots, you can keep them in the ground or store them in the root cellar. They're super yummy pickled, roasted with garlic, or in my Chocolate Gluten-Free cake. I might have a thing for vegetables and dessert. Here's our complete tutorial on how to plant and grow beets.

3. Parsnips. I love roasted parsnips with a bit of butter and garlic. Like I will eat the entire pan by myself, in one sitting, without sharing unless I really absolutely have too.

4. Cabbage. Oh, cabbage, I love you stuffed and rolled, shredded in a slaw, and fried in butter with some sausage. Cabbage is one you should plant using seedlings. If you don't have any started, many nurseries and stores will have seedlings for sale this time of year.

5. Kale. How did I live over two decades without knowing about kale? We adore kale. It's super easy to grow. Sow it by seed on the top of the soil either in rows or scatter it for a cover crop. These kale chips are so good my son even questioned if they were actually a vegetable.

What are your favorite fall crops? Do you grow any crops year round?

Interested in growing more vegetables into fall? Learn how to cool your soil during planting, which crops to sow from seed, harvesting tips, and how to use the frost to your advantage.

Planting a Fall Garden Now. Learn how to plant now for a fall harvest, seed sowing, how to cool the soil, and tricks for using the frost for your advantage.

Melissa Norris

Melissa K. Norris inspires people's faith and pioneer roots with her books, podcast, and blog. Melissa lives with her husband and two children in their own little house in the big woods in the foothills of the North Cascade Mountains. When she's not wrangling chickens and cattle, you can find her stuffing Mason jars with homegrown food and playing with flour and sugar in the kitchen.

Read more about Melissa

Related Posts

A woman's hand picking raspberries.

How to Plant Raspberries

Green beans growing at the base of a cattle panel trellis.

Gardening in June (Garden Tasks By Month)

Large bean teepee with a mountain in the background.

Vertical Garden Planning & Expanding Growing Spaces

Comments:

  1. Podcast Planting a Fall Vegetable GardenMelissa K. Norris

    August 8, 2014 at 5:05 am

    […] ← Previous […]

    Reply
  2. 5 Vegetables To Plant Now For A Fall Harvest — Self Sufficiency Magazine

    8 years ago

    […] 5 Vegetables To Plant Now For A Fall Harvest […]

    Reply
  3. Steve Palmer

    8 years ago

    Melissa, I’d like to enter the drawing for the dehydrator. I clicked on the link and it took me to this page but couldn’t find where to enter for that so I thought I’d just do it here. I love your blog and have forwarded a link for it to a bunch of people in my area. God Bless you! And thank you for all that you do!
    Steve

    Reply
  4. Grow Swiss Chard in Your Fall GardenMelissa K. Norris

    August 20, 2014 at 5:04 am

    […] I’m still learning. And one of those things is increasing our fall vegetable garden. These 5 Plants to Grow Now for a Fall Harvest are some of my favorites, but I knew there had to be more veggies I could put in. (P.S. Did you […]

    Reply
  5. Janet Klingler

    August 2, 2015 at 2:24 am

    I have a thriving Mexican oregano plant and am wanting to dry fuzzy leaves for use later. Do you have any suggestions on this plant?
    Love your site.
    Janet Klingler

    Reply
    • Melissa Norris

      7 years ago

      I don’t have a Mexican oregano plant, but I do have a regular oregano plant. I pick them in the morning, rinse, and either hang about 5 sprigs together upside down in a dry out of direct sunlight area for a week (until leaves are dry enough to crumble) or use the lowest setting possible on my dehydrator.

      Reply

Leave us a reply: Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published.

Recipe Rating




Melissa K. Norris

Follow me:

  • Start Here
  • Courses
  • Academy
  • Contact
Log In

Articles

  • Gardening
  • Homesteading
  • Recipes
  • Lifestyle
  • DIY

Podcast

  • Thyroid, Adrenal Glands & Hormone Health
  • 11 Tips for Organic Pest Control for Vegetable Gardens
  • Grow Your Own Food – Helpful Tips For The Beginning Gardener
  • Does Gardening Save Money
  • Breeding Chickens (Meat Birds) – Tips for Success

Books

  • The Family Garden Planner
  • Hand Made
  • The Made From Scratch Life
  • The Family Garden Plan

Education

  • Organic Gardening Workshop
  • Home Fruit Preservative Canning e-course
  • Home Canning With Confidence
  • Homemade Bread & Baking Class
  • Natural Homemade Bath and Beauty
  • Pioneering Today Academy

Copyright 2022 - Melissa K. Norris Pioneering Today LLC

  • Privacy Policy
  • Affiliate Disclaimer
  • Terms of Use

Melissa K. Norris and Pioneering Today LLC 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.

477 shares
  • Facebook
  • Pinterest
  • Email