Growing Cool Weather Crops
Ahhh, fall…the perfect time of year to pick and preserve the last of your garden goodies. While you're enjoying the last of your summer harvest—and using methods like pickling, freezing, and canning to preserve your surplus bounty—you may want to consider trying your hand at growing some cool-weather crops before winterizing your garden.
Depending on your climate, fall can be a great time to squeeze in a last-minute crop with the season’s warm, sunny days. If you are in an area with chilly evenings and colder temps throughout the night, we suggest adding a frost cover to protect your plants.
What to Grow
Gardening during the cooler months doesn't have to involve immense planning or a great volume of crops; in fact, it could simply include some herbs or leafy greens. You could also grow some flowers for your Thanksgiving table centerpiece.
There are many cool season vegetables and herbs to choose from. Your first step should be to check with your local nursery or garden center; or county extension service for information pertaining to your area, so you can find out your options. You may be surprised by the variety of crops you can grow!
CHECK OUT OUR LEARNING CENTER GROWING GUIDES »
Next, you'll need to buy the seeds or seedlings for the produce you want to grow. If you're growing straight from seed, be sure to check the seed packets to determine how many days are required to maturity, and work backward to determine the appropriate planting dates. Seedling transplants will mature more quickly and may be a better option in some areas.
Remember: keep an eye on your overnight temperatures. Some of these crops can endure short periods of light frost, but you should be prepared to protect plants from any potential cold snaps.
Crops that mature in approximately 90-110 days include the following:
- Broccoli
- Brussels sprouts
- Celery
- Cilantro
- Parsley
- Parsnips
- Radicchio
Crops that mature in approximately 50-75 days include:
- Beets
- Cauliflower
- Collard greens
- Cabbage (early varieties)
- Carrots
- Dill
- Escarole
- Kohlrabi
- Leeks
- Perennial herbs (mint, thyme, oregano, sage)
- Swiss chard
- Turnips
Crops that mature in approximately 30-50 days (and sometime less) include:
- Arugula
- Bok Choy
- Bunching onions/scallions
- Chives
- Kale
- Lettuces (Romaine and Bibb varieties)
- Mustard
- Radishes
- Spinach
Here are some delightful cool-weather floral options:
- Bachelor's buttons
- Calendula
- Chrysanthemums
- Dwarf aster
- Greater periwinkle
- Larkspur
- Lobelia
- Pansies
- Petunia
- Snapdragon
- Toad lily
- Viola
It takes a little planning and a little love to extend your EarthBox® garden for another growing season. We hope we’ve inspired you to run with a few of these ideas. You’ll be greatly rewarded come winter!
Before you plant, don't forget to refresh your EarthBox® garden with the Organic Replant Kit–perfect for cool season crops!
Tell Us In the Comments: Have you grown any cool weather crops in your EarthBox® garden? Which ones are your favorites?
If I plant a blueberry bush in the Root and Veg Earthbox, what is the method and schedule to replenish fertilizer? What about replacing the plastic cap as it inevitably wears out? How would one do this without disturbing the plant too much or making a huge hole in the next plastic cap to fit down over the bush?
I’d love to also know the same for planting blackberry bushes in the EarthBox Original?
You'd follow our instructions for the initial set up, except do not add dolomite to the blueberry bush. When you have to replace the cover, the only way for these plants is to create a big hole in the cover and then tape it back up after you have it in place. We'd recommend adding another pound of our 7-7-7 fertilizer (or another equivalent, slow-release fertilizer) every 3-4 months. That generally lasts 1 growing season, which for the majority of crops grown in the EarthBox is no more than 120 days. Blueberries and blackberries are one of the few perennials that can be successfully grown in the EarthBox.
Which size is best for blueberries the orginal size? Or the deep root n veggie size?
Can nursery recommended acidic soil/ Azelia soil be used in earthboxes for blueberries?
You can grow blueberries in either of those EarthBox sizes, though we recommend the Root & Veg since its depth is more conducive to the plant. You can forgo using dolomite with blueberries, but ensure the pH is somewhere between 4.5-5.5. We still recommend following our growing media recommendations listed here: https://earthbox.com/learning-center/recommended-growing-media
I have my SEASCAPE Day-neutral strawberry seeds in hand. These will be planted indoors, in a grow tent, under LED quantum panels in the EarthBox. I have never planted strawberries of any kind, so Im eager to get this party started. Will provide updates. Too bad we can't attach pics.
~Kbore
NEWS FLASH from Kbore about Seascape seeds: Hybrid strawberry seeds are NOT true to the variety, if they sprout at all. I may have seascape seeds in hand (rip-off) but they will not produce the same plant as the seed donor. To grow the true variety, you must have live/ dormant plant starts from that variety.
On the subject of plant starts, it's too hot to ship live plants in the middle of July (in Zone 6A where I live), so don't expect to buy strawberry seedlings mail-order: It's not going to happen.
Looks like mid-September-ish for me. As the late Tom Petty wrote: " Waiting is the hardest part".
~Kbore