By Valerie Reinhardt, Horticulture Manager

The days are getting shorter and there’s a nip in the air heralding the first frost of the season. Fall approaches and so too does harvest time, but is it time to put the garden to bed for the winter? Not necessarily. There are quite a few vegetables that are harvestable late into the fall season and many actually benefit from cooler weather. The end of summer does not mean the end of the harvest.

A wide variety of vegetables are better adapted to fall gardening, producing better quality and flavor when allowed to mature during the cooler weather when moisture is more plentiful. Turnips, parsnips and Brussels sprouts actually benefit from a light frost to make them sweeter. Carrots also do better in cool weather, becoming sweeter and more tender when grown with warm days and cool nights.

Sugar snap peas

Greens are slower to bolt and better tasting if grown during cooler weather. Tender lettuce is quick to turn bitter and go to seed in the hot summer months, but thrives in the cooler autumn temperatures. Not only do members of the cabbage family like Brussels sprouts, cabbage and kale get sweeter with a frost, but they can actually remain in the garden and be harvested well into December. Spinach and Swiss chard will overwinter in the garden so you can plant in late summer to harvest tender young leaves in fall and fresh greens in the spring.

By mulching the garden to prolong the ground from freezing, root crops including carrots, potatoes and parsnips can be held in the garden for harvest later in the fall and early winter, provided the ground remains unfrozen. The tubers of Jerusalem artichoke, a perennial crop, are ready to harvest after the frost and can be harvested all winter long if you loosen the soil around them in the fall. Leeks planted in the spring will hold in the garden all winter if mulched.

Leeks mulched with straw

Most people think spring is the only time to plant, but many crops can be planted in late summer for harvest in the fall. Consider planting peas and carrots at the end of July for a sweet fall harvest. Greens like collards, mustard and kale are another choice for fall planting. And fall is the time to plant garlic. From October through November, plant your garlic cloves root side down and then mulch them after the young shoots emerge. They will grow through the winter and into the spring and be ready for harvest in July.

Cold weather doesn’t have to mean the end of the harvest—it can actually be the beginning. With good planning you can be harvesting until the snow flies and beyond.