Looking forward to a successful fall harvest? Find out what are the ideal crops to plant this growing season for a bountiful yield and successful fall harvest!
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What Crops To Grow For A Successful Fall Harvest
1. Pumpkin
Spare a space in your garden to grow your own pumpkin patch because you're going to need lots of it over the fall holidays. I'm pretty sure Thanksgiving without a pumpkin centerpiece, Halloween without jack-o-lanterns, and Christmas without a pumpkin recipe is unimaginable.
2. Beets
Health benefits of beet include boosting the immune system which you sure could use during the cold winter months. You can grow beets in containers indoors even in winter since the beet is also a cold-hardy vegetable.
3. Carrots
Depending on the variety, carrots can mature and be harvested in 90 to 120 days. Carrots are also cold-hardy so you can sow them as late as 10 to 12 weeks before the first frost in your area.
4. Green Beans
A fall crop that's easy to grow and offers a bountiful harvest, green beans are also ideal for canning. They sure are a sight when cooked in a casserole and served for a cold winter dinner.
5. Parsnips
Some vegetables taste better when harvested in fall or early winter. It's true in parsnips' case which apparently improves in flavor with the cool fall weather.
6. Cabbages
You still have time to sow cabbages even in hardiness zones 10, 9, and 8. Don't worry if you are in areas from zones 7 to 1 because a bit of a frost actually improves the flavor of cabbages so get growing cabbages now.
7. Winterbor Kale
With a cold-hardy kale variety such as Winterbor kale, fresh greens even in winter are possible. Fresh kale in winter is even a must when concerns for store-bought kale is increasingly alarming.
8. Broccoli
Whatever you said about broccoli as a kid, you'll always love the broccoli you grow yourself as a grown-up. Taste aside, you'll love broccoli even more for its amazing nutritional content. Enjoy healthier and tastier broccoli recipes with these homegrown veggies.
9. Lettuce
Personally, any greens prepared and eaten fresh should always be homegrown. Lettuce, in particular, can be prone to bacteria from improper handling. Growing lettuce is easy and you can start growing your own supply now until late in fall and even indoors in winter too.
10. Collard Greens
Collards are also winter-hardy and after some frost exposure, I'm sure you'll agree they're the best you've tasted. You can grow them even in early fall and start harvesting by the end of the season.
11. Cauliflowers
Keep warm by making some soup with fresh homegrown cauliflower this fall. It's packed with surprising nutrients and health benefits you may not even know. Find out how to plant cauliflower this fall here.
12. Snow Peas
Nothing beats fresh and crunchy snow peas in a vegetable stir fry. Make sure you've got some homegrown when they're also easy to grow with lots of yields.
RELATED: How To Throw The Best Fall Harvest Party On Your Homestead
13. Kohlrabi
If you haven't tried kohlrabi before, the rounded edible part tastes pretty much like the inside of a cauliflower and broccoli stem. Add variety to your vegetable garden and fall harvest with this interesting and unusual vegetable.
14. Fennel
Growing fennel for fall harvest is like hitting not just two but three birds with one stone. You get to harvest the leaves as herb and vegetable, the crunchy and spicy stem, and flavorful seeds which smell and flavors of anise.
15. Spinach
Considered one of the easier vegetables to grow, you can enjoy spinach in as early as 30 to 40 days. Harvesting earlier is even ideal for better taste. Find out how to grow spinach here and how to enjoy them even until winter.
16. Celery
Although celery is such an underused and quite a hard-to-grow vegetable, I've always grown a few sprigs of them in the garden. I've got a handful of recipes that won't do without celery and for my salad recipes, only fresh homegrown celery will do.
17. Onions
For allium vegetables like onions, planting in fall would be ideal depending on your area and the variety. Find out how you can grow onions successfully here.
18. Brussels Sprouts
Enjoying brussels sprouts is an acquired taste, at least for some, since they can have a taste that puts some people off. Homegrown brussels sprouts taste better especially when harvested with a bit of frost and never overcook.
19. Swiss Chard
Along with beet, swiss chard is also one of the healthiest vegetables out there with off-the-charts vitamins A, C, and K content. However, all these health benefits will be wasted with chemical fertilizers, so make sure to grow swiss chard in your garden for a fall harvest.
20. Bell Pepper
Luckily, sweet bell pepper will grow as soon as the last frost and as late as the first frost outdoors. This is good news indeed when I use a lot of bell pepper in my home cooking and even canning.
21. Radishes
With smaller varieties that can be harvested in as early as a month, radishes should make the list of your garden for a fall harvest. You can even grow them late in fall depending on your zone. Best of all radishes makes a great companion plant for a lot of crops including pumpkin, lettuce, beans, and peas.
22. Bok Choy
Bok choys are easy to grow in the fall. You can sow as later as a few weeks before the first frost in your area. Employ a cold frame to protect them.
23. Rutabagas
Also known as swedes or table turnips, rutabagas are amazing vegetables that grow well in the cold weather. Avoid planting near other brassicas to avoid spreading diseases common in the fall.
Check out how you can enjoy an organic fall harvest in this video from CaliKim29 Garden and Home DIY:
There you have it, homesteading gardeners! The variety of crops you can grow this growing season and until late in this season for a bountiful fall harvest.
With a list of great choices, you will never run out of options to grow, or better yet, grow everything if possible. Have a great time growing your own fresh and healthy food!
Which vegetable are you planting for your fall harvest? Let us know below in the comments!
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This post was originally published in September 2016 and has been updated for quality and relevancy.
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like all them vegy,s Jeff Schwersinske