Fall Gardening for Beginners: What Should You Plant?

An article by Travis Key from Lazy Dog Farm

I was having a conversation last week with some friends who are relatively new gardeners. They have four raised beds in their backyard and wanted to know what they could plant in those beds for fall. This got me thinking … What are the best fall/winter vegetables to grow if you’re a beginner gardener with limited space?

So I made a list. I considered the fall vegetables that give you the most return on investment for the space they occupy. I also considered the fall vegetables that are easiest to grow and that have an extended harvest window. Here they are.

1. Cabbage

Cabbage is great to grow in the fall garden because you get a ton of food for the space it occupies. A typical cabbage plant will usually occupy approximately 1 square foot of space in the garden. And if you consider the amount of food you get from one large cabbage head, that’s a really good use of garden space. A single cabbage head is usually enough for one meal plus leftovers!

When grown in the cooler months, cabbage has an extended harvest window. Unlike broccoli or cauliflower which needs to be harvested in a specific window before it gets “seedy,” cabbage plants hold well in the cooler months. If you’re growing an entire bed of cabbage, you can harvest a head as you need it and leave the rest in the bed to grow a little more.

2. Collards and Kale

I grouped these two together because they have similar space requirements and growth habits. Greens like collards and kale are some of the most productive plants you can have in a cool season garden. When planted in the fall, these plants will provide continual harvests through the following spring.

When fed every 2-3 weeks with AgroThrive General Purpose Fertilizer, you can expect to harvest a kale or collard plant at least 10 times throughout its growth cycle. That’s a ton of food for a plant that only requires approximately 1 square foot of garden space! They’re also easy to grow and can be harvested at any point. You can harvest the leaves when they’re small or wait until they get larger than your hand. Just be sure to leave a few leaves at the top so the plant can continue to produce for you.

3. Lettuce

I find that lettuce is one of the most rewarding vegetables for beginner gardeners to grow. New gardeners get excited when they harvest their first beautiful head of lettuce that they were able to grow themselves. And unlike other vegetables that new gardeners may not be as familiar with cooking, everyone knows what to do with lettuce!

Lettuce is easy to grow and grows fast. In just 30-40 days from planting, you can have a beautiful, full-sized head of lettuce to harvest. It also doesn’t require much fertilizer. Apply AgroThrive General Purpose Fertilizer alongside the plants after planting and that’s usually enough to carry them the distance. A typical lettuce plant will occupy slightly less than a square foot in your garden, allowing you to plant a bunch of lettuce in a small space.

4. Carrots

Carrots can be tricky to germinate, but they’re easy to grow once the seeds are germinated. The key is to wait and plant when soil temperatures are in the 70s (°F) and keep the soil consistently moist for 7 to 10 days after planting, or until the seeds germinate. Once you conquer the germination hurdle, it’s easy going from there.

Carrots can be planted very densely, allowing you to grow more than enough for a family of four in just a small 4x6’ raised bed. Once the tops are a few inches tall, start feeding them every 3-4 weeks with AgroThrive Fruit and Flower Fertilizer. This will give them the extra phosphorous and potassium they need to form nice carrots for your family to enjoy.

And much like cabbage, carrots also hold well during the cooler months. This means you don’t have to harvest the entire bed of carrots at once. You can harvest a bunch of carrots as you need them and leave the rest until you’re ready for them.

Another Reason These Are Great!

Apart from carrots, plants for the veggies on this list can be easily purchased at local nurseries. That means you don’t have to know how to start your own plants to grow some of these great fall vegetables. Carrots will need to be planted from seed, but you’ll use plants for the rest.

If you’re comfortable growing your own plants, that’s a great way to save money. If not, go grab some plants this fall and get those beds growing again!

Thousands of gardeners have been tuning in to The Lazy Dog Farm YouTube channel where Travis covers a variety topics ranging from how to successfully start seedlings to how to make a flavorful hot sauce that packs a punch. Accompanied by his wife Brooklyn and their two boys, the gardens on their 2 acre homestead in southwest Georgia are always filled with a wide variety of vegetables that are enjoyed fresh or preserved for later.