Hey everyone! I'm a newbie gardener located in central Indiana, which is in Zone 6A. I'm curious to know if anyone has experience with directly sowing vegetable seeds in the late fall so they can overwinter in the ground or in raised beds for a spring harvest. What veggies did you successfully plant? Or do most folks just get out there early before the last frost? I've tried Googling but could use insights from actual gardeners. Thanks a bunch!
2 Answers
Hey there! I'm in Zone 7B and I tried sowing carrots in August, and surprisingly, I was able to harvest them the next spring! We had some pretty cold nights, too, down to about -10°C, but they did great! You might want to give it a shot with carrots!
Hi! I'm in Connecticut 6B, and I had lots of success planting my fall veggies in both raised and ground beds. I put hoops with greenhouse plastic on the raised ones and used cold frames for the in-ground setups. I ended up harvesting through the winter! My top performers were tatsoi, Russian kale, arugula, mache, and chard. Spinach also did great, although beets didn’t thrive below 20 degrees. I actually had some lettuce varieties survive all winter, too! If you’re short on space for fall crops, starting seeds indoors about 4-6 weeks before cooler weather is a solid plan. Just make sure to direct sow things like carrots and beets when the time comes—I learned that the hard way!
Thank you so much for all the helpful tips! This really gives me a lot to think about.
Thank you for sharing! That's really encouraging!