Cole Crops / Cold Crop

Planting fall and winter vegetables, also known as cole crops, is an excellent way to keep the fertility of your garden’s soil at peak levels. At the same time, it yields crops of delicious vegetables throughout the fall and winter that will keep your meals nutritious and your garden humming.   

 

The Willamette Valley is actually quite suitable for fall and winter gardening with its mild winters and climate patterns. The key to successful gardening is knowing the average date of the first killing frost (32F°) in your region (for example, late October in the Pacific Northwest). You then want to plant your winter crops early enough to let them reach their full maturity before that killing frost. Don’t fret if you haven’t yet planted your cold crop vegetables, though. You can use Hot Caps or a Wall of Water to protect them as the nights get cooler. Following is a list of the cole crops, or cold hardy vegetables we carry and the maturity rates.

 

Early maturing crops take about 30 days to reach maturity. If you plant these vegetables in early October, they should have time to reach maturity before the first frost.

 

 

Mid-season crops reach maturity in approximately 60 days. Use hot caps at night to protect your plants from freezing temperatures in the winter.

 

 

Late maturing crops take about 90 days to reach maturity. Use hot caps at night to protect your plants from freezing temperatures in the winter.