Cool Season Vegetable Seeds

Before temperatures begin to dip down, make time to think about your cool season garden. In the cooler zones, this is traditionally in fall, while in warmer climate zones cool season vegetables can be grown during the winter and early spring. Cool crops such as turnips, beets, carrots; green crops such as lettuce, kale, spinach; brassicas such as broccoli and cabbage can actually benefit from the cooler weather and even a touch of frost. Timing for cool vegetable gardening will vary greatly across hardiness zones, so talking to neighbors, friends and local gardening centers will help you narrow down when to plant and what does best in your area.

• They encompass some of the most nutritious vegetables
• They bring to mind cozy vegetable soups and stews
• Cool season vegetables are especially hardy
• Pests aren't as plentiful with cool season gardens

The farther south you live, the longer the life of your fall garden. In the north, you can enjoy a good fall harvest until at least the first hard freeze; beets, parsnips, and carrots stay in the ground after the freeze if covered with hay. Kale, such as Red Russian Kale, Lacinato, and Blue Curled Scotch tolerates temperatures in the teens and you can harvest well into January. Cold-hardy collards and kale get a rich, sweet flavor after their leaves are touched by frost. Some spinach, such as our heirloom Bloomsdale Long Standing, is also quite tolerant of cold. In the milder South and Southwest, a "fall garden" actually becomes a winter garden that you'll harvest for many months until spring. Our Fall Planted Vegetable Seeds are on sale, by the packet or in bulk!