It was English poet and painter William Blake who said, “…in seed-time learn, in harvest teach, in winter enjoy.” For experienced and new gardeners alike, the winter garden is a magical place full of silence and stillness, yet alive with the juxtaposition of bracing cold and vivid sunbeams of light. It’s a time when the good bones of the garden landscape can be admired in their nakedness and respite. 

Even for gardeners in the coldest of climates, the potential for extending the culinary harvest to year-round bounty can be realized with the right protective gear for your plantings. 

The list of 14 winter vegetable crops that follow are organized by ability to grow outdoors or undercover.  All can be grown relatively easily when the threat of pests and disease are kept at bay with cooler temperatures with cold frames, garden hoops or raised bed covers. 

Vegetables to Grow Outdoors in the Winter Garden

Beets

Sow beet seeds up until 8 or 9 weeks before the fall frost date in your garden zone. Harvest as baby greens or leave in the ground to mature into delicious, vitamin-rich roots. In most locations, beets can stay in the ground all winter if mulched when very cold weather hits. We are big fans of Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds’ Bull’s Blood Beets for their deep reddish purple leaves, delicious flavor, pretty pink inner rings and the fact that one serving contains the recommended dietary allowance for vitamin A. 

Broad Beans

Fava bean, commonly known as broad bean, is a species of flowering plant in the pea and bean family. This slow-growing but delicious legume is an ancient crop that has been cultivated since 6,000 B.C. Broad beans will grow through the winter months if planted in mid to late fall and staked in regions with lots of snow. Check out Ianto’s Fava from renowned plant breeder Alan Kaupler of Peace Seeds, available from Baker Creek Seeds. This variety is so tender you can eat the greens, and tasty when picked young. A great cover crop useful for soil improvement and production of green manure. \

Cabbage

Unlike many vegetable crops, cabbage thrives in cold temperatures, with some varieties tolerating temperatures as low as 26 degrees fahrenheit. Winter cabbages have smaller heads and keep longer. Start seeds in late summer, 6 to 8 weeks before first frost for a harvest 80 to 180 days later depending upon variety. Brunswick is a very cold hardy heirloom cabbage available through Baker Seeds. 

Carrots

Carrots are another vegetable crop that can tolerate winter temperatures, some varieties as low as 15 degrees, but prolonged cold temperatures result in long pale roots. To harvest carrots in winter, plant in late July or early August. Harvest throughout the fall and winter, holding in the garden over the fall and winter months. Carrots won’t generally get much bigger after the temperatures drop, but they will hold well in the soil for many months. Try Baker Creek’s Kyoto Red, a sweet red heirloom carrot native to Japan that is traditionally eaten on the Japanese New Year, often carved into the shape of a plum blossom to represent fertility in the coming year. 

Garlic

The hot taste of grocery store garlic is nothing like the subtle flavors found in the hundreds of regional varieties from around the world, each with a distinctive flavor, shape and color, and a preference for specific climate, soil and growing conditions. Garlic cloves planted in early fall have time to develop strong root systems before winter cold slows them down. The German Extra Hardy Garlic variety available through Seed Savers is great for colder climates and winter growing season. 

Kale

A nutritional powerhouse, kale is one of the easiest plants to grow, and cold weather only sweetens its flavor. For a winter harvest, plant a generous amount in slightly alkaline soil 3 to 5 weeks before first frost. Kale can tolerate temperatures as low as 20 degrees, and due to a chemical reaction that happens when temperatures drop below freezing for this crop, starches turn to sugars — making winter kale the best tasting of all harvests. For a delicious winter variety, choose Red Ursa Kale, a cross between Siberian Kale and Red Russian Kale that was chosen as one of the top five vegetables of the year in the National Variety Trials in 1997. 

Onions

Winter onions can be planted any time the ground can be worked, with ideal planting time two to three weeks before the first hard freeze. Growing onions in winter requires full sun. Onions can withstand frosts and moderate freezes, but need to be protected from hard freezes — periods of at least four hours of temperatures below 25 degrees. Try the winter hardy North Holland Blood Red Onion, an heirloom variety offered through Baker Seeds which is often grown for scallions in Holland. 

Peas

The key to peas in the winter garden is making sure you choose the right type. There are two: round and wrinkled. Choose round, which have no ridges for water to collect in during rainy cool season soils in first stage of germination. Peas can be sowed until the beginning of November to get them established before the worst of winter. In warmer zones, and in cooler zones with a little protection, you’ll be harvesting in late winter and early spring. Alaska Garden Pea and the Kelvedon Wonder Garden Pea are perfect early peas for the winter garden. 

Winter Crops to Grow Undercover

These winter crops will grow outdoors until hard frosts appear and then will need to be protected in a greenhouse, under cloches or in raised beds that are covered when temperatures dip below freezing. 

Arugula

Arugula thrives in cooler weather, and if protected from frost, will grow all winter. Sow in succession two weeks apart, beginning six weeks before first frost. Cover with a cloche or floating row fabric when temperatures dip below freezing. Arugula is also well-suited for growing in a greenhouse. We love Common Arugula — there is nothing common about the spicy mustard-like taste, and this gem is ready to harvest in as little as four weeks. It also can tolerate some frost.

Asian Greens 

Another green on the list of best vegetables to grow in winter, some of the best ones for cold season harvesting include bok choy, tatsoi, mizuna and mustard. They’re all fast-growing with a range of foliage textures, colors and flavors. For fall and winter harvest, succession sow starting in mid-September. In more temperate zones, growing in winter structures like cold frames and polytunnels will extend your harvest season. We love the Vibrant Ultra Violet Mustard, a beautiful Asian-style mustard, and the Shanghai Green Pak Choy, an extra tender finely flavored baby Bok Choy. Both available on Baker Seeds.

Mache 

Also called corn salad or lamb’s lettuce, the delicate culinary nature of mache belies its unparalleled cold hardiness. Originally a foraged wild plant, mache harvested whole by slicing the stem off at soil level. Mache self-sows easily, so pull any leftover plants in spring to keep mache from popping up throughout your garden beds. Baker Seeds’ Green Full Hart Corn Salad is a specialty crop of the Nantes region of France. 

Scallions 

Scallions are, in fact, perennial onion plants direct sewn from seed without thinning and harvested for their greens prior to bulbs forming underground. Have your crop do double duty by direct-sowing scallion seeds in the late fall, harvest scallions as desired, and with select rows, bend the tops over and mulch with three to four inches of hay or leaves. Remove much in early spring, and voila! Your spring onions are four weeks ahead of the neighbors! Try Italian Scallion from Renee’s Garden for an easy to grow heirloom variety that will hold well for extended harvest. 

Spinach

Spinach thrives in cool weather and will continue to grow new leaves even with lower light. Spinach comes with built in adaptability to cold. As the temperature decreases the plant increases the sugar content in its vasculature, essentially acting as an “anti-freeze” to protect the plant. Growth is significantly slowed by cold temperature and lack of sunlight, but will pick back up with the arrival of spring. Try the European heirloom variety spinach Gigante D’Inverno, which translates to Giant of Winter in English. 

Swiss Chard

A form of beet (Beta vulgaris) grown for its tasty leaves and stalks, Swiss Chard is another cold-hardy plant that grows well with protection as cold weather approaches. Swiss Chard leaves can take a bit of freezing and still retain flavor as long as you let leaves thaw on the plant before harvesting. Sow in early fall and water consistently. Our favorite heirloom variety is the Vulcan Swiss Chard from Baker Creek.

Winter Vegetable Gardening Tips for Success

1. If you are planning a winter garden, set aside a portion of your spring seed orders, as many heirloom seed providers sell out by the end of the annual growing season.

2. Start seeds in trays.

3. Grow in raised garden beds.

4. Protect against wind which can be just as stressful to crops as cold.

5. Use cover crops on dormant beds.