Guide to Growing Cool Weather Vegetables Part 2

Part 2 includes growing guides for cool season vegetables: lettuce, mustard greens, onion, parsnip, peas, potatoes, radishes, spinach, and Swiss chard. Find Part 1 here.

Cold hardy vegetables are generally easy to grow, can often be sown directly into the garden, and many of them store well once harvested.

Cool Weather Vegetables

Lettuce

Lettuce comes in so many varieties. Some have green leaves, some red, and there are even spotted varieties. Grow several different kinds for colorful salads from spring through fall. See this tip for preventing bitter homegrown lettuce.

Sunlight: Full sun to light shade.
Soil: Prefers well-drained soil with consistent moisture.
Hardiness Zone: 4 – 9
Height: 6 – 24″
Distance Between Plants: For loose-leaf types of lettuce, plant seeds 1/8″ deep, 2″ apart. For head lettuce, plant seeds 1/8″ deep and 10 – 12″ apart.
Planting Information: Lettuce is generally direct sown but can also be started indoors and transplanted into the garden.
Care: Lettuce prefers cool temperatures and may be planted every few weeks from early spring through fall for a continuous crop. In very hot weather, lettuce will bolt. It can be planted in the shade of other plants.
Harvesting: Loose-leaf lettuces are “cut-and-come-again”. When the lettuce is 4 – 6″ high, break off or cut the lettuce an inch or so above the ground. The lettuce will grow again. With head lettuces, harvest the lettuce when a tight ball is formed by pulling the entire plant from the ground. Alternatively, cut the head from the plant and more leaves may form from the root.

Mustard Greens

Although not a perennial, once you plant mustard greens you will likely never have to plant again. Allow a few of the greens to go to seed at the end of summer; they will drop their seeds and reappear in the spring. Of course, where they come up in the spring will probably be another area altogether. I love them enough to let them grow wherever they like. Eating a mouthful of mustard greens is one of those painful pleasures in life. They are spicy hot and clear my sinuses. I may even do a little jig, but I always go back for more.

Sunlight: Full sun to partial shade.
Soil: Prefers well-drained, fertile soil with plenty of organic matter.
Hardiness Zone: 2 – 11
Height: 1 – 2′
Distance Between Plants: 1′
Planting Information: Direct sow mustard seeds 1/4″ – 1/2″ in the early spring. They will keep producing all summer if you keep the leaves harvested.
Care: Prefer consistent moisture; mulch to conserve moisture.
Harvesting: Cut or tear leaves at any point. If you don’t keep mustard harvested, it will bolt.

Onion

Here in NE PA I pant onion in early April. It often snows afterwards and I always declare, “it’s the onion snow!” Once planted, onions seem to take care of themselves. Keep them mulched and they will be weed-free and stay moist, two “musts” for onions. I plant 2 pounds of onion sets, and that seems to be just enough for two of us throughout the year. Try using some to make onion butter; without added sugar, it is a sweet-savory spread that is amazing on burgers.

Sunlight: Full sun.
Soil: Prefers rich, well-drained soil.
Hardiness Zone: 3 – 9
Height: 1 – 3′
Distance Between Plants: 4″
Planting Information: Onions may be propagated by seed or by “sets,” which are small bulbs that were grown from seed and dried the previous year. Since most varieties of onion require a long season, sets are generally recommended, although I have also done well with seeds. Plant sets with the pointed end up, 1″ deep and 4″ apart, to grow onions for storage. For scallions (green onions), the sets may be planted as close as 1″ apart. Plant 4 weeks before the last spring frost date for your area.
Care: Give onions consistent moisture and keep them weed-free. Onions have shallow roots and cannot reach deep for water, and weeds will compete with them for moisture and nutrients. Mulch is recommended. Pinch back any flowers that may begin to form. Allowing the plant to flower will result in poor bulb formation.
Harvesting: When onions start to mature, the tops become yellow and begin to fall over. When they are brown it is time to pull the onions. Allow the onions to dry for several weeks by spreading them out on an open screen off the ground. Store for the winter in a cool, dry location.

Parsnips, like Brussels sprouts, are at their best when harvested in the fall after a hard frost. This seems to sweeten them and give them a nutty flavor. This root crop may be left in the ground and harvested in late winter when the ground begins to thaw. I love them mashed, but my favorite way to enjoy them is in moist parsnip cake.

Sunlight: Full sun to partial shade.
Soil: Well-drained, fertile soil, free of rocks.
Hardiness Zone: 2 – 9
Height: 2 – 3′
Distance Between Plants: 3 – 4″
Planting Information: Direct sow seeds 1/2″ deep, about 2″ apart. Thin to 3 – 4″ apart after plants emerge.
Care: Parsnips are relatively care-free as long as they receive about an inch of water per week and are kept weed-free. Do be careful in handling the plant in the sun as they can cause phyto-photodermatitis, a painful skin rash.
Harvesting: Wait to dig parsnip roots until after the first hard frost in your area. They may also be left in the ground and dug up in late winter. Use care when digging so that the roots are not damaged.

Peas are at their sweetest right after harvest. Some varieties include shell peas (just the pea inside the pod is eaten) and edible pods, when are most tender when harvested while the peas are still small. Provide a fence or trellis for the pea vine to grow up, and keep them harvested, and you’ll be rewarded with a nice crop.

Sunlight: Full sun.
Soil: Well-drained soil.
Hardiness Zone: 3 – 11
Height: up to 8′ tall
Distance Between Plants: 3 – 4″
Planting Information: Direct sow pea seeds in the spring as soon as the soil can be worked. Plant 1″ deep, 3 – 4″ apart.
Care: Grow along a fence or trellis to keep them off the ground.
Harvesting: Harvest peas frequently so that they will keep producing. Leaving peas on the vine signals the plant that it is time for seed production, and the peaas will stop producing.

Reaping a sufficient harvest for storage requires a relatively large area of the garden, but don’t let that deter you from growing just a small patch so that you have enough new potatoes for several meals. They’re so delicious fresh from the garden – try my oven roasted potatoes on a bed of pine!

Sunlight: Full sun
Soil: Prefer a loose, well-drained soil high in organic matter; they will be more disease resistant in soil that is slightly acidic.
Hardiness Zone: 1 – 7
Height: 18 – 36″
Distance Between Plants: 1′
Planting Information: Purchase certified disease-free seed potatoes. Cut the potatoes into at least 1″ pieces, being sure that each piece has at least one eye. Allow the pieces to dry at room temperature in a paper bag for a few days before planting. Move the pieces around occasionally to be sure that they are not sticking together. Plant the potatoes about 2 weeks before the last average frost in your area. Dig a trench about 4″ deep with a hoe. Place the seed potato pieces with their eyes up about 1′ apart in the trench, and replace soil. Space trenches about 1′ apart. When the plants are about 6 – 8″ tall, hill the potatoes by hoeing soil loosely around the base of the plants to within about an inch of the lower leaves from both sides of the row. Repeat every 2 weeks or so. This will keep the potatoes from being exposed to sun, which turns them green and bitter.
Another method is to plant the potato pieces shallowly into the soil and cover with a thick layer of clean straw or other weed-free mulch. Add more mulch as the potatoes grow to keep light from reaching the potatoes. Tubers grown this way can be easily harvested by pulling back the mulch after the plants die back.
Care: Keep the soil from drying out and mulch to conserve moisture.
Harvesting: New potatoes may be harvested in July; if you want to store your potatoes, wait until the plants have died down. Dig them up gently to prevent damaging them. Brush off all of the soil and stor the potatoes in a cool, dry place.

Radishes

Radishes are easy to grow and grow quickly. They can be planted spring or fall but don’t do well in the hot summer months. Fermenting them is a delicious way to enjoy them.

Sunlight: Full sun.
Soil: Prefers well-drained soil high in organic matter and free from stones.
Hardiness Zone: 2 – 10
Height: 6 – 18″
Distance Between Plants: 1 – 2″ (4 – 6″ for larger varieties like daikon).
Planting Information: Direct sow radish seeds 1/2″ deep. They are frost tolerant and may be planted as early as on week before the last average frost for your area.
Care: Provide consistent moisture.
Harvesting: Radishes may be ready for harvest as early as 3 weeks after planting, depending on variety. Harvest when you see the top of the radish pushing through the soil. Larger, older radishes will be tough and bitter.

Spinach

Because it is so hardy, spinach is one of the earliest crops in the garden and may even be overwintered under cover.

Sunlight: Full sun to part shade.
Soil: Prefers well-drained, fertile soil high in organic matter.
Hardiness Zone: 3 – 9
Height: 6 – 12″
Distance Between Plants: 3 – 6″
Planting Information: Direct sow spinach seeds 1/2″ deep as soon as the soil can be worked in the spring. Successive plantings may be made every 2 weeks until the weather starts to warm. Plant again in the late summer for a fall crop. Spinach will not germinate if your soil is acidic.
Care: Dry soil and heat will cause spinach to bolt, so plant early and keep the soil moist.
Harvesting: Spinach may be harvested at any point in its growth by cutting or tearing at the base of each leaf. Young leaves are more tender, and delaying harvest may cause the plant to bolt.

I prefer Swiss chard to kale, and even to spinach. I find it really tender and mild. And it just keeps growing in both cold weather and warm. I’ve yet to have it bolt. And some varieties are super attractive in the garden.

Sunlight: Full sun to partial shade.
Soil: Prefers well-drained, fertile soil high in organic matter.
Hardiness Zone: 3 – 9
Height: 1 – 3′
Distance Between Plants: 18 – 24″
Planting Information: Direct sow seeds 1/2 – 1″ deep around the time of the last average spring frost for your area. Like beets, each seed-ball actually contains a few seeds. Be sure to thin the chard to one plant when the leaves are a few inches tall.
Care: Keep the soil consistently moist and mulch to conserve moisture.
Harvesting: Swiss chard leaves may be harvested at any size. They can be tough if they become too large. Cut the outer leaves to harvest, being careful not to damage the rest of the plant. This will assure continued growth. If you’ve allowed the leaves to become large, harvest them and compost them. New growth will appear and will be nice and tender.

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