Best Winter Vegetables to Grow

It’s the middle of winter and you are dreaming of your vegetable garden and just waiting for when you can start prepping your garden or raised beds for planting. Actually, there are winter vegetables you can grow. Unless your ground is frozen, there are things which can be planted almost all year long. So, what are the best winter vegetables to grow?

Snow alone – a light snow – will not kill your hardy vegetables. Frost can be far more damaging. As long as your area doesn’t get a “hard frost” you can grow quite a few vegetables. A hard frost is when you get freezing temps (below 32 degrees Fahrenheit) for four or more consecutive hours.

Usually the coldest temps are in the early morning hours prior to dawn. If you are unsure of your specific backyard overnight lows, you don’t need to invest in an expensive weather station. You can get a min/max thermometer. This one by Govee not only tells you what the overnight low was, but also tracks temps and humidity over time, and can send downloadable data and reports right to your phone.

Broccoli and Cauliflower

My favorite winter vegetables to grow are broccoli and cauliflower, which can be planted pretty much throughout the winter in our climate.

These two don‘t mind frost or snow, as you can see by the picture below. We had a very unusual snow last year in February and still had a fabulous harvest of both. In fact, the cauliflower was sweeter than I ever remember it.

Broccoli and cauliflower can withstand temperatures down to 20 degrees Fahrenheit (or lower) with usually only minor damage to their leaves. They do this by producing sugar in the cells. This sugar acts much like an antifreeze to prevent the cell walls (which are normally all water) from rupturing. That’s why our cauliflower tasted so sweet!

I like to put my first winter garden starts in the raised beds in October, when the tomato and pepper plants start winding down. (We actually harvest both tomatoes and peppers through December, but not with the same ferocity as in August, September and October). Then if I replant two inch tall broccoli and cauliflower starts every two months after that, we have a constant supply of both throughout the winter.

Winter water needs are generally low, but remember a healthy plant which is not drought stressed is better able to defend against disease and pests. Both benefit from at least one supplemental fertilization just prior to maturity to get a nice big round head.

The best part? After you harvest the nice big head, broccoli will put out little florets all around the main head for another month or so, for a little garden snacking. The gift which keeps on giving.

Brussels Sprouts

Another fantastic hardy winter vegetable to grow are brussels sprouts. They love cooler weather and actually do better if they are hit with a light frost. Brussels sprouts are a fun crop, especially for kids.

I usually only plant one brussels sprout crop per winter, because they are both abundant and take a longer time to mature. However if you were ambitious, you could plant one crop in October and a second crop in February before the weather gets too warm.

Brussels sprouts are susceptible to aphids just like broccoli is, even moreso, so another benefit of growing in the winter is that aphids are more likely to be dormant in the colder temperatures and generally will not attack your crop.

Red Cabbage

I love-love-love having red cabbage available for fall and winter meals. The vegetable which was once relegated with a ‘take-it-or-leave-it’ attitude has now become a ‘must-have’ for Taco Tuesdays. Shredded cabbage is a fan favorite not only for our tasty tacos, but also Greek chicken gyros, salads, slaws and to add a little crunch to almost any meal.

Red cabbage has ten times more vitamin A and double the iron than green cabbage, plus the flavor is sweeter than green cabbages.

Cabbage is one of the lowest maintenance winter vegetables to grow, and they are one of the most hardy vegetables you can get for colder weather. I generally start them after the holidays. I get the starts into the ground by at least mid January, so that I can harvest in late March, before the peppers go in.

If I am ambitious, I will do two planting cycles, one in the early fall alongside the leafy greens in my Fall Salad Garden, and the second after the holidays.

Cabbage water needs are low, and in fact they hate waterlogged soil. But they are heavy feeders, so try not to plant them in too close of proximity to broccoli or cauliflower, or else they may compete for resources. By the same measure, space the starts well enough apart otherwise your cabbage heads will be on the small side.

Celery and Celeriac

Celery and Celeriac are both cold hardy veggies. Not familiar with Celeriac? Check this out.

Contrary to some articles out there, I have found celery and celeriac easy winter vegetables to grow. One year I couldn’t keep up with harvesting the celery, and when I never removed it from the garden it just kept on growing and producing for a second year. I found out that celery is actually a hardy biennial but it is cultivated as an annual. This is what makes it a perfect winter veggie.

Celery loves very wet, waterlogged soil (so don’t put it anywhere near your cabbage!). This is likely what makes it a perfect veggie for Northern California – we have wet rainy winters, with temperatures rarely lower than 30 degrees Fahrenheit, which is perfect for celery.

If your celery is looking a bit pekid even though you have it in good wet soil and the temperatures have been between 30 and 70, then drench the plant with some fish emulsion. This is one of my favorite vegetable fertilizers. This should perk it right up.

Carrots

Carrots are another of the easiest and lowest maintenance winter vegetable to grow out there!!

If you have tried growing carrots only to get a twisted stunted crop, you either bought nursery starts or started them yourself but left the baby plants in the starter pots for too long. I use carrot seed tape which is the absolute best for carrots to direct seed into your raised beds. Carrots which are planted too close will compete for resources and fail to grow large. The seed tape ensures that spacing is appropriate taking the pressure off the need to thin seedlings.

Carrots don’t mind the cold at all. They are unphased by a snow or longish frosts. In fact, because the main part is in the soil, it is actually kept at a warmer – or at least a more constant – temperature than the air. There are even gardeners in super cold climates who overwinter their carrot crop. Although know that the carrots aren’t ‘growing’ at these temperatures; but they are not freezing or wilting either. Make sure to mulch well if you choose to do this.

Just put the seed tape on top of your soil and cut with a scissors. Lightly cover the tape with soil and water. Voila! Carrots!

And remember that the tops of the carrots are edible too! Try my carrot-top pesto recipe. That’s two vegetables for the price of one, and reducing food waste at the same time!

Beets

Beets are easy to grow. While not quite as tolerant of cold as carrots, they can withstand snow and frost. And, if a heavier frost kills back the leaves, new leaves will sprout from the top of the beet bulb.

That being said, they are still a great cold weather crop which get tough and woody when the temperatures get too hot. They much prefer fall and winter planting. Thin small beet clusters to one per every three inches. You can add the thinned beetlet seedlings to your salads.

Another thing beets don’t mind? Less than perfect soil. They do just fine in light clay soil, or soil which has recently been used by your summer crop. However make sure that there are no clumps or bumps or potato remnants, as this crowds them and could inhibit beet root growth. Also, although they tolerate less than perfect soil, I do recommend amending your soil with compost prior to new plantings, no matter the crop, as this will ensure greater success.

Don’t forget that the leaves of the beets are edible too – try my sautéed beet-tops recipe.

Onions, Leeks and Garlic

Lastly, onions, garlic, and leeks are practically un-killable.

While you can plant onions from starts, you can also plant from a piece of another onion as long as the root is attached (just like you can plant a part of a potato, or a daffodil bulb if you accidentally dig through it).

These are some of the easiest vegetables to grow, but they are by no means the only ones. You can also plant: