Fall veggie gardening isn’t nearly as popular as it ought to be! So many folks assume that the final summer harvest is the end of our veggie gardening season, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. There are so many delicious cool season crops to plant in summer for a late fall harvest. They do beautifully in mild temperatures, whereas hot summer sun can cause cool season veggies to bolt!
You can continue with veggie gardening until the snow falls if you plant these cool-season edibles! They’re the perfect immunity booster as we prepare for another chilly winter season. Here are our favourite varieties, when to plant them, and when they’ll be ready for harvest.
You can plant these fast-growing root veggies as late as the end of September, so they’re an ideal candidate for fall gardening and succession planting! They thrive in cool weather and are notorious for bolting in high heat. Some radishes can reach maturity in as little as 30 days, so you’ll have no trouble getting a fresh harvest before winter!
Plant this ultra-nutritious leafy green in early to mid-August for a fall harvest. Kale takes about 80–90 days to reach full maturity, but if you’re feeling impatient, you can harvest it as baby kale after 1–2 months.
Root vegetables are great for gardening in autumn—they get sweeter when exposed to cold temperatures! Carrots need about 70–90 days to mature, so you should be able to get a sizable harvest in October or early November if you plant in August. Have you ever tried growing purple carrots? They’re delicious and packed with cancer-fighting anthocyanins—that’s what gives them their gorgeous colour!
For tasty autumn salads, you can plant lettuce well into September and continually harvest a little bit every few days as they grow. If temperatures are especially hot at planting time, we recommend growing them in containers and keeping them in a shaded area until the heat drops.
Hearty, filling stews are so comforting on chilly autumn nights. Turnips and beets are the perfect veggies to bulk up your recipe! Turnips need between 40–75 days to mature, and beets need 60–75 days. Plant them in August for a supremely satisfying October harvest.
These sweet, crunchy veggies are the perfect after-school snack. They only need about 50–70 days to mature, so if you plant them in August, they’ll be ready just in time for the back-to-school season!
Popeye’s favourite veggie isn’t great for hot weather gardening, so we recommend sowing seeds in containers and placing them in a shaded area until fall temperatures arrive. Spinach is another one of those terrific leafy green veggies that you can continually harvest a little bit at a time until the frost hits.
You either love it or hate it, but for those of us who enjoy cilantro, it’s such a versatile herb commonly used in flavourful recipes from all around the world! It tends to bolt in the heat, which causes its leaves to get bitter. Plant it in August or September, and the leaves will be ready to harvest 45–70 days later. You can also try herb gardening indoors if you have a south or west-facing window that gets lots of sun!
One caveat of fall gardening is staying on the lookout for frost in the forecast. If it looks like we’re going to have an unexpected overnight frost earlier than usual, use some plant covers or old bedsheets to insulate your crops. You can also bring container veggies indoors, then bring them back out once things warm up again. Just try to keep them far away from your houseplants—this will prevent any hidden pests from spreading and damaging your precious plant collection.
Ready to begin fall veggie gardening in Ontario? Don’t miss your window! Visit our garden centre in Guelph so you can get all the seeds and starter plants you need in time for a sensational fall harvest.
