Autumn Gardening: My Favorite Vegetables to Plant in the Fall Vegetable Garden

If you’re new to gardening or have been a strictly summer gardener, you may not realize that fall can be the perfect time to start a new crop of vegetables in your garden. Truth be told, autumn is my favorite time to garden. The pleasant cooler temperatures and the reduced pest pressure make it an ideal season for planting hardy crops that thrive this time of year. {And if you enjoy gardening, or reading about gardening, check out my article on 15 Old-Fashioned Gardening Tips from Our Grandparents.}

There are so many great things you can grow in the fall garden it’s hard to even know where to begin. And so in this guide, I’m sharing some of my favorite vegetables to plant in the fall. Whether you’re looking to extend your harvest or simply enjoy a little something fresh during the cooler months, I hope these tips will set you on the path to successful fall gardening.

Here are 7 of my favorite vegetables to plant in a fall garden:

1. Spinach

Spinach is one of my favorite leafy greens. It’s packed with nutrients and has a tender texture and mild flavor. It’s perfect for eating raw in salads and smoothies and also for using in cooked dishes like soup and stew.

Planting Method: Direct seed or transplants. (Direct seed or direct sow refers to planting seeds directly into the garden soil. Transplants are seedlings that you buy or that you grow from seeds yourself before transplanting to the garden).

Grow and Harvest: Sow seeds directly into the soil about 6-8 weeks before the first expected frost. Plant the seeds about ½ inch deep and space them 2 inches apart. If you’re planting multiple rows, keep the rows 12-18 inches apart. Thin seedlings to 6-8 inches apart once they are around 2 inches tall. For transplants, plant them in the garden a few weeks before the first frost date. 

You can harvest the immature spinach leaves as baby leaves or wait for the mature leaves. Established spinach plants are cold hardy to about 20 degrees Fahrenheit, and may be able to overwinter if you live in a mild climate. Plastic row covers will keep your plants warm and extend the harvest season if you live in a colder climate.

2. Kale

Kale is cold-hardy and nutrient-dense, making it perfect for the fall garden. It has a robust texture and slightly peppery flavor, and it is a great choice for smoothies, hearty salads, and cooked dishes. 

Planting Method: Direct seed or transplant seedlings.

Grow and Harvest: If direct seeding, sow them directly into the garden about 6-8 weeks before the first frost, planting them ½ inches deep and 12-18 inches apart. If starting with transplants, plant them at the same spacing, making sure to plant them early enough to allow the roots to establish before the weather cools significantly.

You can harvest kale as baby kale or wait for more mature leaves. I typically wait until after the first frost to harvest because I find that a frost makes the kale taste sweeter.

3. Carrots

What I love about carrots is that there are so many fun varieties to plant. They come in more colors, shapes, and sizes than what you can find at the grocery store. With their naturally sweet flavor and crunchy texture, they’re delicious in both raw and cooked dishes.

Planting Method: Direct seed. Carrots should be planted from seeds directly into the garden, as they don’t transplant well.

Grow and Harvest: Sow seeds about ¼ inch deep in loose, well-drained soil, and space them about 1-2 inches apart. Carrots can be sown every few weeks for a continuous harvest. Thinning is important with carrots. You will want to thin seedlings to 2-3 inches apart once they’ve grown a few inches tall. 

Carrots take around 70-80 days to mature, but this varies by variety so check your seed packet for more information. When carrots are ready to harvest, you will usually see the shoulders of the carrots beginning to poke above the soil. 

Carrots are frost tolerant and can improve in flavor after exposure to frost. The cold temperatures cause the starches in the carrots to convert to sugars, making them sweeter. However, extreme cold or prolonged freezing conditions can damage the roots, so it’s best to harvest them before severe frost if you anticipate very cold temperatures.

4. Radishes

Not everyone loves radishes, but I think they are delicious. They have more uses than many people realize. Of course, they lend a crunchy peppery bite to a salad, but they are also delicious pickled or roasted. They grow quickly, so they are ideal for succession planting, often allowing for several harvests in one season. If you find radishes too spicy, I recommend trying the French Breakfast Radish variety, which is sweeter and milder. 

Planting Method: Direct seed. Radishes don’t do well as transplants and should be direct-seeded into the garden. And because they grow so quickly there is no advantage to starting them as transplants anyway. 

Grow and Harvest: Sow seeds about ½ inch deep and 1 inch apart, thinning to 2-3 inches apart once seedlings emerge. If desired, you can plant them in succession every 2 weeks for a continuous harvest until the weather gets too cold.

Radishes will be about 1 inch in diameter when they are ready to harvest, although this may vary slightly by the variety. And like carrots, the tops will be peeking out of the soil. If you’re unsure, gently pull one out and take a peek. 

5. Lettuce

Planting Method: Direct seed or transplants.

Grow and Harvest: Lettuce can be started from seeds directly in the garden or grown from transplants. For direct seeding, plant seeds about ¼ inch deep and 4-6 inches apart. If using transplants, space them about 6-12 inches apart, depending on the variety. Leaf lettuce is particularly suited to direct seeding, while head lettuce varieties can benefit from transplanting. Keep the soil consistently moist to ensure tender leaves. Lettuce can be harvested by cutting outer leaves as needed for a continuous harvest, or by cutting the entire head when it’s fully mature.