Now that we gave you some tips to use to extend your season, we thought we would tell you about 10 of our favorite winter vegetables. Some of these have the potential to overwinter to produce a very early spring crop as far north as places like Vermont and New York if given protection.
Of course going into winter gardening, it is a good idea to keep in mind that it is a bit more of a gamble than summer gardening. Things might work in a mild winter, but not a more harsh one. It might rain so much that your plants drown. Or you could have a really cold night extremely early that kills everything unexpectedly.
If you fail one year, don’t let it discourage you. Try again. If it’s something you have never done before, there is definitely a learning curve. It took us 5 years of making mistakes before we had a year that we timed everything right to succeed with all the crops we planted in the same year.
As we go through this list, please keep in mind that the temperatures a particular plant is hardy to is a generality. It can be both variety and location/protection dependent. A good example of this is cabbage. Some varieties will be damaged at about 30 degrees, and others are extremely hardy and will take temperatures down to 10 degrees even without protection.
So when you are selecting seeds to buy for your winter garden, do a bit of research on which varieties are hardiest first.
Now lets get on to the plants!
10. Brassicas
This isn’t just one plant, but rather a family of plants. When we say brassicas, we are referring to plants like broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, and brussel sprouts. One of the reason that we love these plants so much is that they are a highly versatile group of plants.
They love cold weather and will tolerate being frosted. In our experience, cauliflower is the most tender. Cauliflower will get damaged by temperatures down in the mid 20’s. You can protect them a little bit by thoroughly wrapping all of their leaves around the head, but it is a good idea to eat your cauliflower first.
Next up is broccoli. Broccoli is more hardy in our experience and will easily take temperatures in the mid 20’s with no damage. Once you get down to the low 20’s you will likely start to see some damage. The plants are much hardier than the florets, so even if you harvest your broccoli to avoid low temperatures, don’t remove the plants. They might still produce side shoots for you. Our broccoli will often keep on producing right through December despite nightly frosts.
After that is brussel sprouts and cabbage. They seem to be more hardy than broccoli, probably simply because with both you are harvesting leaves. They will take temperatures down into the teens. Brussel sprouts actually tastes better after they have been frosted.
Keep in mind when looking at cabbage in particular that some varieties are not very hardy and others are extremely hardy. January cabbages–varieties like Deadon–are some of the more hardy varieties. Also, if cabbage or brussel sprouts are cold damaged, you may be able to remove the outer leaves and still harvest a perfectly good inner head/sprout. Check them before you throw them out.
9. Parsnips
Parsnips are a less common vegetable. If you have never eaten them, but enjoy trying new vegetables, we would encourage you to try them. They have a unique taste all their own. Best of all they are extremely cold hardy. We used to plant them in our Vermont garden and harvest them early the following spring once the snow had melted enough to find them. So if you live in a cold climate they very well could be the first crop you harvest in the spring!
Parsnips are in the same family as carrots, and look like a long white carrot with more coarse leaves. They can be a bit finicky to get to germinate. This is because they germinate slowly. The trick is to keep them evenly moist without letting them dry out even once before they have sprouted. Similarly, they also take a long time to mature. They need a long season, so you can plant them in the spring and then just let them grow all year. They are best eaten after they have been frosted. Either harvest them late fall or in the spring.
8. Turnips
Turnips are another winter vegetable that can serve two purposes. Plus they are remarkably cold hardy. Turnips tops will take down to about 10 degrees. If you heavily mulch or pile up extra dirt around the roots once the weather gets cold they will likely take even colder temperatures. Additionally, turnips store very well once harvested, so are something you can likely enjoy for the entire winter.
We usually think of eating the white bulbous root when we think about eating turnips. However, turnip greens can be eaten raw in salads, or as a cooked vegetable. Just like the turnip roots, they have a tangy spicy flavor to them. They hold up well to cooking, so can make excellent additions to things like winter soups.
7. Carrots
You cannot grow turnips without growing carrots. Well actually you can, but a 50/50 mixture of mashed carrots and turnips is one of our favorite winter vegetables. And nothing beats the flavor of a winter harvested home grown carrot, or the sweet and tangy flavor of a turnip carrot mash seasoned with butter, salt and pepper. Carrots are of course very versatile and loved by most everyone. Those that are harvested after frost will be extremely sweet.
Carrots are once again quite winter hardy, particularly since they are under ground. With a good layer of mulch, you will likely be able to harvest carrots until the ground has frozen solid around them. Like turnips, they will also survive down to 10 degrees or more if well protected. If you have full sized mature carrots that no longer need their tops, you can set a straw bale on top of them to help keep the ground soft enough to dig them for longer into the winter.
6. Spinach
One of the hardiest greens you can grow. It is one of the few leafy greens that Cornell University has good success growing and harvesting in the dead of winter. If spinach gets its leaves damaged but the plant isn’t killed, or it gets buried in snow, most likely it will pick up where it left off come spring. Often you will be able to harvest overwintered spinach very, very early in the spring. This is one of the vegetables we save to harvest last in our winter garden. We know that it will still be there waiting for us all winter. We eat the more cold sensitive greens first.
A note about spinach varieties. It seem that generally speaking, the savoy (crinkly leaves) varieties are more cold hardy than the smooth leaf varieties. We also prefer to use slower to bolt varieties so that we can harvest later into the spring.
5. Mustard Greens
Mustard greens come in a broad array of different varieties ranging from very spicy to very mild. They are one of the more tender greens and will likely be damaged by mid to low 20’s weather. One of the reasons we love them is that they are so quick to mature, and they are often one of the first greens we are eating in both the fall and spring. Additionally, they are one of the greens that we can plant in spring and harvest well into the summer.
Our two favorite varieties of mustard greens are Tendergreen for the fall, and Savanna Hybrid for the spring. Tendergreen matures very quickly and has extremely mild, tender leaves. We find that it makes an excellent lettuce substitute though it can also be cooked.
4. Perennial Leeks
Perennial leeks are similar to the leeks you might get at a grocery store, but they are smaller, and they multiply to make clumps of small leeks. One of the main reasons we love perennial leeks is that they are very low maintenance. They are very hardy, tender, delicious, and have typical leek flavor. Since they are so plentiful and easy to grow, we even substitute them for onions sometimes.
As long as you do not harvest all of them, you will only need to plant them once. We like to harvest the largest ones and either leave or replant the smaller ones to allow them to keep growing. In our climate they will go dormant in the summer and reappear in the fall. In cooler climates they might stay green all summer meaning you might be able to harvest them almost year round.
3. Swiss Chard
Swiss chard is a vegetable that often shows up in baby green mixes, but isn’t featured very often at mature size which is a pity. The larger leaves make a good substitute for spinach. It can be used as a salad green at both baby and mature, or the larger leaves may be cooked. In our opinion, what sets Swiss chard apart is its thick fleshy stems. Don’t trim the leaves off and throw away the stems. Cook the stems up alongside the leaves, they are delicious! Fordhook Giant is our favorite cooking chard, and rainbow chard is what we prefer for salads.
We find that the white Swiss chard (Fordhook Giant) is more cold hardy (low 20’s) than the rainbow chard (Bright Lights) we also grow (mid 20’s). We also find that the younger plants are more cold hardy than very large plants. In our garden, usually the leaves get damaged, but the smaller plants survive the winter and start producing new leaves in the spring for an early harvest. We typically don’t plant chard in the spring, we just harvest our overwintered plants until they start to bolt.
Chard is also quite heat tolerant. We have been spring planting the variety Perpetual Chard (Perpetual Spinach). This variety is extremely heat and drought tolerant giving us salad greens all summer. It is also purported to be extremely cold hardy, possibly overwintering down to zone 5 with protection. However we have only grown it as a summer green so have not put that to the test.
2. Collards
Now to be fair, collards are technically a Brassica and should have been included with that group of plants when we talked about them above. However, we wanted to single out collards as we feel they are under appreciated by gardeners in many parts of the country.
In addition to being cooked to mush with bacon in the traditional southern dish, collards are extremely versatile. They can be used in pretty much any way that you would use cabbage. If you have never eaten collards, they taste similar to cabbage or a broccoli leaf.
We find them to be easier to grow, much more productive, and more cold hardy than most cabbage varieties we have tried. They grow new leaves, and we can continually harvest them all fall, winter, and until they bolt in the spring. Some varieties are hardier than others so it once again pays to do your homework when selecting varieties. We have been growing Top Bunch and find that they typically come through our winter undamaged (15 degree lows). This is unprotected, so they would likely survive a good bit colder with protection.
1. Bulls Blood Beets
We say Bulls Blood Beets instead of just beets, because we find this particular variety to be one of the most productive and easiest managed vegetables in our garden. Not to mention, it is one of the most beautiful greens we grow. We prefer Bulls Blood to other beet varieties, because it is multi-purpose.
Unlike many beets whose leaves get tough quickly, the greens are tender and delicious at any size or growth stage. They are cold hardy and also heat tolerant, so from one planting you will be picking vegetables for months. Best of all, if you don’t over harvest the leaves, and thin the plants when they are young, at the end of the season you will also be able to harvest delicious beets.
Beet greens are similar to Swiss chard for hardiness and the leaves will likely be damage by temperatures in the low 20’s. If you have thoroughly mulched the roots, they can take colder temperatures. We prefer to eat the greens until the tops get damaged. Then we harvest and eat the roots. We repeat the same process in the spring. We eat greens all spring, and then the beet roots mid summer when the greens succumb to leaf spot.
Our Runner Up
We wanted to mention lettuce as it is something everyone is very familiar with. It is often featured on cold hardy vegetable lists. It is quite cold hardy, however, it does not make our list. This is because, lettuce is a vegetable that we rarely grow here. We have found that it is more finicky and difficult to grow than most other greens. It is prone to rotting, bolting and getting bitter. It requires multiple succession plantings, and can be tricky for us to germinate in our hot sandy soil.
We think that there are so many other better, under appreciated greens out there that lettuce isn’t worth growing. All the greens on this list are tastier and work so much harder for us than lettuce does. We do very little succession planting, because these other greens can be harvested over an extended period without loss of quality. Plus many of them are much more heat tolerant, and are equally if not more cold tolerant. So if you have never grown any of them we would encourage you to give some of them a try this year!
If you would like more gardening tips, don’t forget to sign up for our newsletter!
Please remember
The information provided is for general informational purposes only. All information on the site is provided in good faith, for general informational and educational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional advice. We make no representation or warranty of any kind, express or implied, regarding the accuracy, adequacy, validity, reliability, availability, or completeness of any information on this Site. Accordingly, before taking any actions based upon such information, we encourage you to consult with the appropriate professionals. We do not provide any kind of professional advice. THE USE OR RELIANCE OF ANY INFORMATION CONTAINED ON THE SITE IS SOLELY AT YOUR OWN RISK. View full disclaimer here.
