Zones:

November is the month the fall garden settles into its next phase. In cold-winter zones, the growing season is behind you, the first frost has already passed, and the work now is protecting what's left and getting beds ready for winter. In mild-winter zones, you've finished new seed-sowing for the year, but there's still real work to do: onion transplants are establishing, and it's a good month to get garlic and shallot cloves in the ground. And in warm-winter zones, momentum keeps building; direct sowing is still wide open, and the fall-and-winter growing season that defines these zones is in full swing.

Zones 1-7a: These zones experience cold winter weather known to reach freezing temperatures over an extended period of time. The direct-sow and transplant windows closed back in October, so there is nothing new to plant this month. The job now is protecting what's already established - a row cover or cold frame can keep kale, chard, and other cold-hardy crops producing for weeks past that first freeze; and, once a hard freeze settles in for good, cleaning up beds for winter. It is also a good month to try dormant sowing: broadcasting cold-hardy flower seed onto the ground now so it stratifies naturally over winter and comes up on its own in spring.

Zones 7b-9a: The direct-sow windows for cool-season crops closed back in September and October, so there are no new seeds going in this month. Instead, November is about establishment: onion transplants from September and October are settling in, and it is a good time to plant garlic and shallot cloves for a harvest next summer.

Zones 19b-12: November keeps the momentum going in these frost-free zones. Direct sowing remains wide open for greens, roots, and legumes; onion and brassica transplants continue moving outside; and the long, productive fall-and-winter garden that defines these zones keeps building.