10 Frost-Resistant Vegetables to Grow in Winter

Winter is right at the corner or might already be on your doorstep depending on your location. The question a lot of gardeners love to ask themselves is ''what kind of vegetables can I grow for winter and can such vegetables withstand the harsh environmental condition?'' Now in this article, we are going to discuss 10 frost-resistant vegetables to grow in winter. These vegetables are best grown in colder climates and can be an alternative to the vegetables you would normally grow during summer. So let's get started.

1. CAULIFLOWER

Cauliflower is a little bit tough to grow because insects and pests love cauliflower, so you must spray your cauliflower with neem oil and a pure castile soap to keep the bugs off of them, also you can use some diatomaceous earth to get rid of some of the beetles and some of the earwigs as well. Cauliflower is hardy to 10°F, so if you get a little bit of frost or even a little bit of snow you can still grow cauliflower.

2. CABBAGE

Cabbage is similar to cauliflower and pest love cabbage as well. So you have to be very proactive in spraying cabbage with neem oil and pure castile soap as well. Cabbage is hardy to 20°F, so you can always grow cabbage in frost and even light snow as well.

3. BROCCOLI 

Broccoli is hardy to 28°F and broccoli is easy to grow as compared to cauliflower and cabbage. Broccoli turns into a nice huge crown which is the flower of the plant, and that is an edible flower. So you can enjoy broccoli crowns all winter long and you can grow lots of broccoli, you can harvest the main crown of broccoli and keep harvesting lots of little broccolis as well and enjoy them in your food. 

4. KALE

Kale is frost resistant to 20°F, so if you got a little bit of light frost, kale will make it through it at no problem. However, kale leaves do get wilted in light frost, so if you want to enjoy tender kale leaves, you must cover your kale plants with either a plastic tote or a greenhouse plastic. That way, you can enjoy nice tender kale leaves all winter long.

5. SWISS CHARD

Swiss chard is hardy to 15°F and swiss chard is super easy to grow. You can start with some swiss chard seeds, you can also directly sow swiss chard into the ground even in early fall and you can enjoy swiss chard all winter long. You can start harvesting swiss chard and kale leaves as soon as the plant gets about four sets of leaves and you can keep harvesting older leaves to encourage new leaves to grow.

6. COLLARD GREENS

Collard greens are hardy down to 5°F, they can tolerate frost and some snow as well. Collard green leaves are a little bit tough that's why they're so hardy in winter. So if you want to enjoy collard green leaves, you must sauté them or cook them and add them to your soup or warm salad.

7. PEAS

Peas are also really easy to grow, you can directly sow peas in your ground or you can start pea seedlings ahead of time. You can also grow pea shoot micro greens. Growing peas is super easy, you just need a sort of trellis for peas to climb on. You can start harvesting peas in just two months because pea plants will start producing peas just two months into growing and you can harvest peas all the way into spring.

8. CARROTS

Carrots are also frost resistant and they can take light snow as well. Carrots are hardy down to 15°F, so if you do get some snow you can still harvest carrots that are growing underground under the snow. That's one of the coolest things about carrots. Lots of northern states in the United States and lots of countries in northern Europe plant carrots in early fall and they can harvest carrots even when they is snow on the ground and they can keep harvesting carrots. However, if you get light frost and you don't even get snow, you can keep planting carrots in succession all winter long and keep harvesting carrots all the way up to spring. One crucial tip about growing carrots is that you must have loose soil otherwise your carrots will not grow nice and strong and straight, they will be crooked. So you must grow your carrots either in raised beds or on berms.

9. RADISH

Just like carrots, radishes love loose soil, so you must plant your radishes either on berms or on raised beds. Radishes are hardy down to 28°F, so if you get light snow, radishes will make it through. One of the nice things about growing radishes and carrots is that the leaves are edible too, so you can add these leaves to your salad or also sauté them to add them to your soup as well.

10. GARLIC 

Garlic is my favorite because garlic is absolutely maintenance-free, you can just plant cloves of garlic into the ground in early fall, for some states such as California where they get light winters and light frost, they plant their garlic in fall. If you are in northern states or in northern Europe or where it gets really cold and you get snow, you can plant your garlic in early spring and grow all the way through summer and harvest in fall. Garlic is absolutely maintenance-free, all you do is plant the cloves into the ground and wait about eight to five months, keep watering them, and these cloves will develop into nice bulbs. Be sure to mulch your garlic plants and also plant bigger cloves to grow bigger bulbs.

I really hope you learned about how to grow 10 of the best frost-resistant vegetables for winter gardening and I  hope you can grow lots of these vegetables all throughout the winter. If you find this article helpful please follow us on FACEBOOK and also share this article. We would also love to see your thought in the comment section, thanks for visiting. Grow fast and grow healthy!