Deborah gardens as a hobby and enjoys organic vegetables in her kitchen. She keeps a variety of edible plants in her garden.

Which Vegetables Can I Grow in Winter?

Winter is a difficult season to grow crops. The calendar marks these months as unfriendly for many vegetables in the garden. When the season arrives, one feels he has no choice but to see that beautiful tasty garden wither. But what about those greens that like the cold?

Some people believe that they cannot have a garden once summer or spring passes. That is simply not true. It is possible to have a variety of tasty vegetables in your garden during that wintry season. If you only want warm-loving species of vegetables like tomatoes or peppers, it is best to use a greenhouse or cold frame. However, even if you have neither, it is still possible to enjoy a variety of vegetables in your winter garden.

Some vegetables thrive in winter and may even grow in cold regions. Unless you have arctic weather, gardens can be grown in the northern hemisphere. Following is a list of my favorite and most successful plants to grow in the cold months.

Onions grow the best with plenty of water. Winter also provides rain for crops.

1. Onions

Green onions do particularly well in a lot of rain and cold weather. You may plant them from seed or grow them from cuttings. Just plant them and you will have them year round. All species of onions can be grown during the winter, including leeks and chives.

2. Parsley

Parsley is a green favorite in gourmet dishes. This herb is great in salads and pasta. Both the curly and leafy varieties thrive in winter, and will grow year-round.

Parsley is a hardy plant. Rain or shine it will grow.

3. Lettuce

This leafy green actually does best planted in the shade, and will grow a large harvest in winter. It can be planted in a pot or the ground. Butter crunch lettuce or the leafy varieties make for a great tasting salad.

The leafy varieties of vegetables thrive and produce robust leaves in winter. species of leafy greens in the vegetable family include spinach, kale, lettuce, and arugula. Other leafy relatives flourish in winter as well.

4. Spinach

Spinach can be a delicate crop, as it attracts pest. The beauty of the cold is that most pests do not come out in the winter season. One could even grow mammoth spinach successfully in the cold. All varieties of spinach grow plentifully in winter.

Baby spinach is a treat in the garden. It is easy to harvest spinach once it's reached full maturity in winter. Pest do not like the cold.

5. Garlic

Garlic has the best flavor in winter. It is best to plant the garlic bulbs in the fall, and then the bulbs will grow and expand in winter. You may conveniently plant garlic, using the bulbs you buy from the grocery store. There is elephant garlic, as well as the smaller variety available in the vegetable section, whichever kind is preferred. Garlic is a favorite in the kitchen and you may have it year round in your garden.

It is best to plant garlic bulbs in the Fall. The bulbs expand in winter. The flavor is best tasting when full matured bulbs is harvested.

Winter Edibles

Other vegetables with a bit of care can be grown in winter as well, including more bulky kind of vegetables. The leafy greens on this list do well in the cold months of the year.

Squash: best planted in the fall

Land cress

Carrots

Pak choi

Broad beans

Cabbage

Broccoli

Kale

Brussels sprouts

Radish

Mustard greens

Arugula

Chard

A winter garden is fulfilling and beneficial to the dinner table. Squashes and herbs grow just fine in the cold.

That’s it for this list! These vegetables are nutritious as well as flavorful. Enjoy a winter garden.

This content is accurate and true to the best of the author’s knowledge and is not meant to substitute for formal and individualized advice from a qualified professional.

Questions & Answers

Question: In which month is best to plant garlic?

Answer: Fall is the best season to plant garlic, so the months of September and October are good months to plant garlic.

Question: What is the best environment for growing pineapples?

Answer: A tropical environment, or a warm climate is best to grow pineapples. However. pineapple plants do well in pots. The plants may be grown inside, or brought in during the winter season.

Question: Do peas do well in the winter?

Answer: Yes. Peas do well in cold weather.

Question: Will these vegetables survive when it snows?

Answer: Yes! Spinach is not as durable in heavy snow. Onions and lettuce are the most resilient in cold regions. Raised boxes are best to avoid vegetables being buried. However, all vegetables have a difficult time in the Arctic circle.

Question: Can I grow any vegetables if I live in the north part of Texas? It gets down into the '20s every once in a while?

Answer: Absolutely! Onions for example have also thrived in warm climates. Place some of these plants in broken sun or shade and they should grow just fine.

Poppy from Enoshima, Japan on November 26, 2017:

What a useful article advising what plants can be grown during the cold months. Of course our ancestors must have been able to grow something unless they lived on meat all winter.

I should have known garlic thrived well in the cold as here in Japan, the northern prefecture of Aomori is famous for delicious garlic. Great article.