October has arrived, and here in the Intermountain West, we are getting ready to clean our gardens and get ready for winter. But that is not the case for the entire country. If you live in a hardiness zone of 8, 9, 10, or 11, you can still grow a garden. In fact, this is the perfect time to grow fresh vegetables for the holidays. Those living in zone 7 may also grow a fall crop with some season-extending helpers. Find your zone on the USDA website, or check out the map below. While the hot summers are not a friend to your beloved vegetable garden, the fall is. With temperatures starting to cool off, October is a great time to start planting. Read on for a guide to the perfect cool-season vegetables for zones 8-11 and a few ideas for zone 7.
Growing a fall/winter garden is easy when you live in the right location. Unlike those of us who live in high elevations and on frost-blessed land, you can enjoy the bountiful harvest of fresh vegetables for your Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, Christmas, Kwanzaa, and New Year meals. Make this year’s feasts extra special with the taste of a home-grown harvest. If you find yourself living in zone 7, you may still grow a winter garden with some additional protection from the cold.
For information related to your local region and climate we recommend consulting your extension office and local universities. On our Hardiness Zones by State page, you can find links to your state's agricultural information and resources. We have also included links to other universities that provide information for growing in similar climates. I would highly suggest you peruse the information provided by these universities for continued growing success and regional updates.
Enjoy your favorite family meals with the exceptional added taste of fresh vegetables from the garden. You can expect to harvest these vegetables between November and March. For a continual harvest, plant in succession. Planting things like lettuce and carrots in batches a week apart will provide you with a fresh harvest every week. Don’t worry about eating everything from your garden as it is harvested. You can preserve leftovers through freezing, canning, drying, fermenting, and more. You never know when a big storm or natural disaster will leave you needing a good supply of food storage.
As these plants reach the end of their winter season, it will be time to get your tomatoes and peppers in the ground. Just be sure to amend your soil and allow a couple of weeks to rest between crops. For the best results from year-round gardening use no-till or no-dig practices to preserve your soil structure. Observe Charles Dowding, English Horticulturalist who is known for his writing and no-dig practices, as he explains the differences between his traditional digging and no-dig/no-till trial gardens on his youtube channel.
13 comments
HELLO I AM A BEGINNER GARDENER. I LIVE IN ZONE 8. I WANT TO START SEEDLINGS FOR A WINTER GARDEN. BUT I DON’T KNOW WHEN TO START MY SEEDLINGS SO I CAN TRANSPLANT COLLARDS,CABBAGE,CAULIFLOWER,LETTUCE, SPINACH AND BROCCOLI. I WANT TO DO IT IN CONTAINERS. THANK YOU SOME HELP TO GET STARTED IT’S NOW JULY 12
Growing in 9a Ocala, FL is extremely challenging. Learn something good or bad every season!
This will be my first year growing cool season veggies. Most of the cool season crops aren’t my favorite types of vegetables but I have family members that love them so I look forward to spreading the Love this season.
It’s such a blessing to have fresh veggies even in the cold months! My family and I just finished eating fresh kale from the garden! I live in zone 8b so we pretty much have food all year long. I literally went grocery shopping in the yard…I love gardening!
Great post! Once I get some frost sheets I plan on starting and overwintering some leafy greens! (Zone 7)