Fall gardening can get a bit confusing at times, since it’s a mixed bag of still-producing summer plants and new cool season plants going into the ground. It’s easy to overcomplicate it, but it doesn’t have to be that way.
A lot of spring veggies are also fall veggies, but not all of them. Some veggies are Spring and Fall, and some do better in just one season or the other. First, get your hands on your local co-op planting guide, and see what grows well in fall in your zone. Next, if you have existing plants, sit down and make a little plan of how much space you have available now, and how much you will have once your summer plants are pulled out. Then plan for direct sowing seeds in those empty bed spaces right away, and save the transplants for later when you clear out the last of the summer veggies.
It doesn’t have to be this perfect plan that the garden gods will shine their magical, musical light on once you have finished the masterpiece. Some things will fall into place nicely, and some others you might have to rearrange a few times before the timing works out well enough. Just put in a little time and give it your best shot, the best thing about being a beginner is that experience is going to be your best teacher. So even if a crop fails, it’s not a failure itself, it’s a great lesson for next season.
To help you choose what to plant this fall, I’ve made a short list of some of the easiest veggies to grow here in zone 9b, and also the most rewarding. Remember, if you are a beginner gardener, don’t grow things you aren’t going to eat! It’s better to grow 3-4 varieties that you will actually consume than 20 new things you’ve never tried before just because you lose all control at the plant nursery. (Trust me, this is experience speaking here…) So make a short list of your favorites, go prepared, and try your best to keep it simple while you learn.
PEAS
We love peas! Sugar snaps, snow peas, any snap pea that you can pick right off the plant and eat are so fun, tasty and rewarding. They have always been easy in my experience, just drop the seeds into the ground and watch them grow. Make sure to read labels, as vining peas will need a trellis. Bush peas won’t, so if you aren’t equipped with a trellis yet, start with bush varieties to keep it cheap and easy.
CARROTS
Root veggies are so fun to pull up out of the dirt, just make sure they have loose soil. Raised beds are best; if you plant in small pots or into ground that has not been deeply tilled, the carrots will be stunted and sad. I was never able to grow carrots successfully until I put them in my raised beds a few years ago, and now it’s a piece of (carrot) cake.
RADISHES
Loose soil is best for radishes, too – any root vegetable is going to need growing space. But radishes don’t get as deep as carrots, and they grow much more quickly which makes them perfect for beginners. Fast growers and easy!
HERBS
Depending on what you cook with the most, pick a few herbs – they’re great for fall weather! Basil, dill, cilantro, etc. They all do great in the still sunny but cooler weather. Rosemary is a great staple, but find a permanent home for it, as it is a perennial and you won’t have to replant in your garden beds each year. Just prune it once a year and it will keep coming back.
FAVA BEANS
Fava beans are great because you plant them in mid-fall and almost forget about them. (Check occasionally for slugs though, so they aren’t getting secretly demolished without you noticing) They hang out in the garden all winter long and then produce bean pods the following spring. Growing may be slow until it starts to warm up, so don’t give up on them when they are still small-ish plants by the time Feb-March rolls around. The roots are established and will take off quickly once the sun is out more and the weather warms.
BROCCOLI
Starting seeds can be tricky at times and slow going; for newbies I’d suggest buying starts at the nursery when you’re ready to plant. You’ll get one main head (your first broccoli may seem small-ish when compared to the way-over-fertilized giant crowns at the grocery store – don’t think you did something wrong there…) and then once you harvest the main head, there will be small bite-sized side shoots that pop out and you can collect for a while afterwards, before pulling the plant out entirely.
LEAF LETTUCE
Leaf lettuce (Romaine, buttercrunch…) is great because you just pick the outside leaves as needed for small salads and such, and more will grow so you have an ongoing supply. Head lettuce (iceberg, cabbage…) is tasty too, but they are a one-and-done crop where you pull up the whole head at once and then take the plant out. Leaf lettuce is better for beginners, in my humble opinion.
Disclaimer: Lettuce is definitely a garden staple, but I still battle with starting lettuce seeds indoors myself even after many years, and the slug battles make lettuce something I personally would not consider to be one of the easiest things to grow. I’m only including it because it’s kind of a main player in the everyday vegetable garden!
For beginners wanting to grow lettuce, definitely start with transplants from the nursery that are well established. I’m an organic gardener (no pesticides or Sluggo) so I use two methods to fight slugs: beer traps and hand-picking them off in the evenings. Make sure to check your plants regularly for slug damage which are little holes on the leaves, and put out beer traps at the first sign of trouble. Hopefully slugs are simply not something you will have to worry about for a long while! For the curious, I have a whole post here on how I make my beer traps successful.
So with that – happy fall gardening to you!! Are you planning a fall garden? What are you growing?
💚💚
Kate