Vegetables & Herbs You Can Plant in Your Regenerative Garden this Fall

There is no doubt about it: fall is in the air! Temperatures are dropping, daylight is waning, and the trees are dropping their leaves.  Although the planet is slowly preparing for winter, it’s not time to put your gardening gloves away just yet.  There are many vegetables and herbs you can plant in your garden this fall to keep the regenerative goodness going.  

Hardy Herbs

Fall is a great time to plant some of the hardiest herbs in your garden, particularly if you live in a location with fairly mild winters.  Some wonderful perennial herbs that you’ll enjoy having in your kitchen this fall include:

• Rosemary
• Thyme
• Lavender
• Sage

If you live in an area too cold to have these plants outside, these herbs also do well in containers.  Keeping a few by the kitchen windowsill throughout the winter ensures you’ll always have fresh herbs at your fingertips.  

Leafy Greens 

Salad in the fall?  Yes please! There are many types of leafy greens that prefer cooler temperatures and are tastier when allowed to mature with a slight nip in the air.  Salad greens that do well in cooler temperatures include:

• Arugula
• Spinach
• Kale
• Swiss Chard

Many of these greens are hardier than regular lettuce, so they also make a great addition to winter soups or dishes like quiche.  If you live in an area with milder winters, you can plant a new row every two weeks or so for a continuous yield of fresh greens.

Bulbs & Root Vegetables

Although you won’t be enjoying the fruit of your labor until spring, fall is a great time to plant several vegetables for an early spring harvest.  While the ground is still workable, consider planting:

• Onions
• Garlic
• Turnips
• Carrots

Since they will lay dormant throughout the winter, make sure to mark where you plant each vegetable.  You don’t want to accidentally dig up all your hard work in the spring or over plant one area! You may also want to add a hardy layer of mulch or compost to the top of your plantings to keep them warm through the winter and give them a little added boost in the spring. 

Putting Your Beds to Bed

If you live in a super cold climate where the ground freezes hard or you perhaps want to save all your planting and growing for spring, then you’ll want to put your garden beds to bed for the winter.  

If you’re growing regeneratively (we hope you are!), then your beds will be in their permanent location and you won’t be tilling up the soil in the spring.  Putting them to bed for the winter will include harvesting any remaining veggies, but leave those roots in the ground! They add vital nutrients and organic matter that will improve your soil over time. 

To protect your bare soil and give it the nutrient kick it will need for spring growing, layer on some compost and mulch.  The mulch you use will depend largely on the area you live and your aesthetic preferences, but if you live in an area with lots of fallen leaves, they make great mulch and it will save you a trip to the compost pile. 

It’s never too late in the season to grow your own food. Use these tips to grow hardy vegetables and herbs for cozy soups, delicious roasted vegetables, and hardy winter salads.  If you want something your own garden just doesn’t have, your local farmer’s market is a great place to find a wide variety of fall and winter veggies.