25 Vegetables That Can Be Grown in the Winter
Winter is approaching rapidly, and you've worked hard to harvest your summer and fall crops. So, now what? Well, winter may be just around the corner, but you can still plant hardy varieties of winter vegetables in your garden, cold frames, grow tunnels, and greenhouses. Below, I have listed 25 vegetables that can withstand a hard frost that you can grow successfully this winter with some tender love and care.
Asparagus
Artichokes
Arugula
Beets
Brussel Sprouts
Broccoli
Cabbage
Carrots
Cauliflower
Chives
Collards
Green onions
English peas
Fava beans
Kale
Leaf lettuce (plant in grow tunnels)
Leeks
Mustard greens
Perennial onions
Parsnips
Radishes
Rhubarb (Remember that rhubarb leaves are highly toxic; the stalks are what's edible.)
Rutabaga
Spinach
Swiss Chard
Turnip greens and turnips
Generally, when gardening outdoors, I like sticking with perennial greens and various other perennial vegetables that don't die at the end of the season. Some may go dormant, but they will continue to come back every year.
I also enjoy planting self-seeding vegetables, fruits, and herbs. Self-seeding plants not only saves money but also time when gardening. Examples of a few self-seeding vegetables are arugula, chard, collards, kale, lettuce, mustards, spinach, radishes, and turnip greens.
If you want your vegetables, fruits, and herbs to self-seed, just leave some of them in the ground and allow them to flower and drop their seeds. Then new volunteer plants will emerge on their own (these volunteers will be true to the parent plant).
Note: I reside in USDA Hardiness Zone 8a. Generally, the winter months are fairly milder in comparison to planting in zones 1 through 6. However, this weekend I made grow tunnels and covered my okra, tomatoes, and greens because this coming Tuesday and Wednesday we are supposed to have a hard freeze (wicked crazy weather for Halloween).