Hardy winter vegetables / RHS Gardening (2024)

FAQs

Hardy winter vegetables / RHS Gardening? ›

Try Brussels sprouts, kale, leeks, parsnips and cabbage.

These cold-weather champs are kale, spinach and collards. Other hardy vegetables include broccoli, Brussels sprouts, English peas, kohlrabi and leeks. Hardy root crops are radishes and turnip, which also yields some greens from the tops.

What to grow for winter. Broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbages, kale, leeks and parsnips are hardy vegetables and will stand through the winter. Leafy crops such as chard, parsley and rocket should also over-winter with a little protection.

To get a jump-start on your garden and grow some fast-growing, cold-tolerant plants you're going to want to try out some radishes, turnips, sugar snap peas, kale and spinach.

Optimally, seeds should be started in late summer, but nursery seedlings transplanted in early fall will still do well. Some plants, such as onions, leeks, and cole crops, take a while to become established. Plant these early in August.

Popular winter plants include leafy greens that can survive the harshest conditions—even snow, rain, and ice—or carrots, turnips, onions, and other stew-ready vegetables. If you want to give your winter vegetables some help through the coldest parts of the year, add a protective covering to your garden.

Fall and winter vegetables can be started by seed from late August to mid-September, then transplanted into the garden later. Seeds should be started indoors where temperatures are cooler, then the seedlings slowly transitioned outside once temperatures cool down in early October.

Here are some suggestions: Spinach beet and Swiss chard are excellent alternatives to spinach, cropping for months rather than just a few days. Kale is hardy, easy to grow, and comes in many types. If sown as late as August, it will keep you in leaves all through the winter and the spring hungry gap.

Hardy vegetables tolerate hard frosts (25 to 28° F). In other areas, you might need to provide frost protection on occasion throughout winter. Examples of hardy vegetables include English peas, kohlrabi, leeks, broccoli and Brussels sprouts. Radish, turnip and collards also fit into the hardy veggie category.

Artichokes, asparagus, beets, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, carrots, endive, kohlrabi, leeks, lettuce, mustard greens, onions, onion and garlic sets, radishes, parsnips, salsify, turnips, parsley, spinach, Swiss chard, rhubarb, horseradish.

What vegetable will come back every year? ›

Asparagus. The best known of the perennial vegetables, asparagus is usually planted by purchased roots in sunny, well drained beds.

Potatoes are a great winter-early spring crop and at this time of the year you will find seed potatoes available in local garden centers and on-line. And there's a potato planting solution for any sized garden! They can be planted in the ground in rows or in mounds, in containers, in potato bags, or in potato towers.

Winter crops for cold frames or hoop gardens tend to consist of cold-tolerant greens, herbs, and root crops. Nitrogen is the best fertilizer for growing leafy crops, while phosphorus and potassium support strong root growth.

It's never too late. It just matters what you put into that garden. It may be too late to grow tomatoes in your Chicago garden in September because you'll be getting cold weather soon, but you could still grow carrots, radishes, and lettuce plants.

Advantages of Fall Fertilizing

It's the best way to build healthy soil. The nutrients you add have all winter to break down into the soil.

Unless you have a greenhouse, you won't be growing tomatoes, zucchini, squash etc in the winter, but many leafy greens (lettuces, kale, chard etc), root crops like garlic, beets, turnips, rutabagas, and potatoes do very well in the winter with a little planning and care.