How To Plan a Fall Vegetable Garden: A Guide to What Plants You Should Grow and When

While summer gardens slow down, autumn offers the perfect opportunity to grow cool-season vegetables, plant cold hardy bulbs, and refresh your garden space for next year. Whether you’re wondering what to plant in your fall garden, when to plant them, or which bulbs will thrive in your garden space over winter, this guide goes through everything you need to know. Fall can be one of the most rewarding seasons to grow your own food, so don’t miss your chance to get your plants started. 

Step 1: Find Your Average First Frost Date

The most important information you need when planning a fall garden is when the average first frost date is for your zone. If you’re not sure what zone your garden is in, check the USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map. Once you know your zone, search what the first frost date has been for your zone for the last 5 years. You can use this information to determine the average date and start your planning from there. Our garden is zone 7b, so I can see that the average first frost date is usually around October 13. The first frost date is when the temperature dips below freezing, which can cause damage to some plants. It’s important to plan around this average first frost so you don’t plant a lot of heat loving crops and have them die when your first frost occurs. Weather is unpredictable, so your estimate may not always be accurate. That is why it’s important to choose your plants wisely so they can survive potential frost. 

Step 2: Choose Plants for Fall Garden

Fall gardening usually begins in mid to late summer if you are starting plants from seed. You can also purchase seedlings from a local garden store, which are usually tailored to what crops will work for your area. When considering which plants to choose for your fall garden, common choices include leafy greens, brassicas, and root vegetables. These types of plants can usually handle a small amount of frost, so they will continue to grow and produce even if your first frost date comes early. Here is a list of our favorite fall crops to grow with tips on when to start them. 

Leafy Greens

Many lettuce varieties can handle lower temperatures, so it’s an easy choice when selecting plants. There are a ton of varieties of lettuce, so grow your favorites that you buy from the store or try out some new varieties that you haven’t seen before. Kale is a great option for fall gardening because the flavor improves after a light frost. Some other favorites of ours include bok choy, spinach, and swiss chard. For lettuce, consider succession sowing, which means you start seeds every few days so you have a constant harvest of lettuce throughout the fall. Each type of lettuce will have a different number of days to harvest, so look at your seed packet to see how long each plant will take to grow and take that into account when planting. For example, lacinato kale typically takes 65-80 days to harvest (and is usually a continual harvest beyond that). For our zone 7b garden, we would plant this kale to be ready for harvest a week or two before the first frost date. If we start seeds for kale on July 25, we should be ready to harvest by our estimated first frost date of October 13. Some lettuce does not take as long to grow. Spinach takes around 35 days to harvest, so if you’re planning your fall garden later, there are still plants for you to grow from seed. 

Brassicas

Brassicas, like broccoli and cauliflower, are known for their cold tolerance and how their flavor improves after a light frost. Brassicas are easy to start from seed or seedling and they are usually easy to preserve after harvest, so we love to add a ton of brassicas to our fall garden. There are a lot of options for brassicas, including broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, and brussel sprouts. We use succession sowing for cabbage and like to alternate between green and red cabbage to give ourselves some variety. Broccoli and cauliflower we grow all at once and then process them to store in the freezer for the winter. Follow the same process to determine when to start brassicas. For example, purple cauliflower takes 75-85 days from planting to harvest, so we want to plant it at least 75 days before our estimated first frost date. We can start seeds around July 20 or buy seedlings from a local garden store if we’re a bit late to start them. 

Root Vegetables 

Root vegetables are those that grow below the soil level. They prefer cooler soil temperature and warmer weather can stress the plants and cause them to go to seed. Root vegetables also give you a ton of options for how to harvest your plants. For vegetables like carrots and parsnips, you can leave them in the soil until your first frost and sometimes into the winter (depending on temperature). Other root vegetables, like turnips, radishes, and beets, grow really quickly and can give you quick harvests if you’re starting your plants later in the summer. Consider how long your growing time is when deciding when to start root vegetables. They are usually started from seed, but you may be able to get some seedlings from a local garden store. 

Legumes

Legumes are plants that produce pods with seeds. Some common legumes are peas, sugar snap peas, snow peas, chickpeas, and beans. Some legumes, like peas, are fast growers, so they make a great choice for fall gardening. Sugar snap peas are our favorite snack straight from the garden, so we never miss a chance to grow them in the early spring and fall. Peas are another great option because they’re very easy to preserve and use in the winter. These plants often improve the nitrogen in your soil, so it will improve your garden for the next season. 

Garlic

Garlic is one of our favorite things to grow in the garden each year, especially because it’s planted in the fall. Planting in the fall allows the garlic to develop a root structure and establish itself in the soil before winter. The winter temperatures encourage better bulb production, so you’re more likely to get a better harvest if you plant in the fall. Garlic is usually planted 4-6 weeks before the first frost. For our zone, we plant our garlic in early October and by the next July, we get a huge harvest of garlic that lasts us several months. Garlic is one of the easiest things to grow, so definitely consider it for your fall garden. 

Learn more about Harvesting and Preserving Garlic from the Garden.

Flowers to Plant in the Fall

Fall is also a great time to start flowers from bulbs and to replenish nutrients in your garden beds. Popular fall flower plantings include tulips, hyacinths, daffodils, and crocuses. Most of these flowers will be very early spring bloomers, so they’re a wonderful addition to brighten up your space after winter. Tulips are our favorite flower in our garden and we initially planted them to use for our wedding flowers years ago. Most of these flowers are perennial, so they will grow back each year without you having to replant them. You can order bulbs online or check your local garden store in August/September to see what options they have. 

Step 3: Prepare your Garden Space

Once you’ve selected the plants you are growing and when to start them, you will need to get your garden space ready for them. This includes removing plants from the spring and summer that are done producing and replenishing your soil if needed. If you use a plant rotation schedule, make sure you are planting your fall crops in the spaces that they will have access to the nutrients they need to thrive. Cleaning up your garden space and replenishing the soil is a very important part of the fall garden planning because it will set you up well for next spring’s garden. You can also establish your fall garden space so it’s ready for any early frost that may occur. This could include choosing a space that has maximum sunlight for those shorter fall days. If needed, use shade to protect your fall plants from harsh summer sunlight or use frost protection if you have a frost earlier than expected. 

If you have garden space where you won’t be planting any fall crops, consider adding a cover crop. Cover crops are used to replenish the nutrients in your soil and prevent weeds from taking over your garden space. Some popular choices for cover crops include oats, winter rye, and crimson clover. Cover crops are usually chopped and dropped, meaning you grow them out, chop them at the base, and leave the clippings to decompose on top of the soil. The roots improve your soil’s structure and the clippings decompose and release essential nutrients back into your soil. 

Step 4: Start Planting your Fall Garden

Once you’ve picked out your plants and set up your garden space, you’re ready to start planting. Ideally, you will start planning the fall garden around mid to late summer so you have enough time to grow all of the plants you want to. Since a lot of these cold tolerant plants are being started in the harsher summer months, consider starting your seeds indoors or protecting your young seedlings with shade and more frequent watering. Good luck in the garden!