What to Plant in November: Fall Crops We Love
It’s not too late to grow fall crops! November is a great month for planting seeds in mild climates, and perfect for overwintering vegetables in cold ones. Plant these fall crops for cool-season success no matter where you live in the U.S.
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Climates vary across the states during November, and all our different gardens are incredibly diverse. Most are chilly and frigid as winter approaches, though some areas experience mild winters without major frosts or freezes. How cold it gets will determine which crops to plant in November.
Some are root vegetables with sweet, succulent roots. Others are leafy greens with frost-hardy, tender leaves. A few are great for continuous harvesting for flavoring meals and marinades. No matter your taste preferences, there’s sure to be a vegetable crop you can plant this November.
For more success, try using protective gardening methods that insulate your crops. Add cold frames, hoophouses, greenhouses, and cloches to warm the area and extend your growing season. Sow seeds, purchase starts, or transplant mature seedlings.
Beet
The humble beet is one of our favorite crops to plant in November! What’s not to love? This root vegetable is tender, colorful, and tasty both fresh and cooked. Grow a typical red variety, like ‘Detroit Dark Red,’ or try a shiny golden variety like ‘Golden Boy.’
Beets are frost-hardy, though they may have trouble germinating in November if hard freezes are already abundant. Sow beet seeds in early November. When they sprout, mulch them with compost to insulate their roots.
Beets overwinter well in mild climates; grow big varieties that reach epic proportions. In gardens with frigid winters, sow quick-maturing cultivars like ‘Early Wonder’ that you can harvest before the ground freezes.
Carrot
Carrots are versatile in the kitchen, and they grow better during the cool months than the warm ones. Plant them with your other root crops this November so they mature under the right conditions. Plant traditional orange carrots, or try planting rainbow ones in shades of purple, white, yellow, and orange.
Carrots, like beets, may struggle to sprout this month if your garden is already experiencing recurring frosts. Sow them in early fall, and let them overwinter until you’re ready to harvest them. They’ll turn sweeter after a light frost, and they store well in the garden under mulch.
Carrots also offer incredible variety. If your fall is a short season, plant quick-maturing dwarf cultivars. ‘Tonda di Parigi’ grows round balls full of flavor, while ‘Little Finger’ forms thin, finger-like carrots.
Cilantro
Root crops aren’t the only thing you can grow! Plant cilantro throughout the cold months for continuous harvests. Its tender leaves are essential for tacos, bean dishes, and sofrito, among many other dishes.
This herb is an annual that bolts under summer’s heat. It’ll fare better in fall or spring in most regions, and in the winter in frost-free ones. Sow seeds thickly in a row for a full trench full of leaves. Harvesting the leaves consistently will promote more leafy growth.
If you have cilantro that bolted over the summer, let it form flowers and seeds. Then, harvest the seeds and sow them in November. You won’t have to buy seeds, as your plants will produce them!
Corn Salad
Corn salad also goes by “mâche,” and it’s a tasty, frost-hardy green with delicious flavor. The leaves are nutty and fresh, like a mix between spinach and sunflower microgreens. They’re perfect for salads or prepared as cooked greens in casseroles and side dishes.
Corn salad thrives from November through spring, and it also takes well to greenhouse conditions. Sow it in a cold frame in the coldest parts of the U.S. for fresh greens through the winter.
In spring, let a few corn salad plants flower and set seeds. Collect the seeds, then wait until the fall to sow them for another free harvesting season.
Fava Bean
Fava beans are both crops and cover crops. They grow edible flowers, leaves, and bean pods, and they fix nitrogen from the air into a form that plants can use. They’re exceptionally winter hardy, growing well to insulate the ground as a living mulch.
Plant these November crops to utilize them as a cover crop. Then, sow another round in the spring for a bean harvest. The soft beans grow quite large, and young ones cook well when blanched, peeled, and tossed in butter or olive oil.
Fava beans also work well as dry beans. Simply let the pods dry on the vines, then pick them off when the beans rattle in the pods. You’ll then need to boil and peel the beans to enjoy them.
Garlic
Everyone should plant garlic crops this November! Unless you live in a very warm climate, you should plant garlic in the fall for a midsummer harvest. This crop needs the cold weather to grow properly.
Sow garlic cloves an inch to two inches deep, then cover them with a two to three-inch-thick layer of compost. The mulch will insulate and feed the cloves, allowing them to thrive throughout the fall and winter seasons.
Choose from hardneck or softneck garlic cultivars. Softneck types need less cold weather than hardneck types, and they produce a large amount of cloves per bulb. Hardneck types grow fewer cloves per bulb, but they’re incredibly flavorful. They also grow edible flowering scapes that are delicious sautéed.
Kale
Kale is frost-hardy in mild and cold gardens. Growing sweeter after light frosts, it’s perfect for replacing less hardy greens like lettuce. Plant these crops in early November from seed, or transplant starts throughout the cold months.
Kale may struggle if you sow seeds indoors and transplant the seedlings without a hardening-off period. Harden them off by moving them outside a few hours a day over two weeks until they’re fully outside. Keep them under a protective covering, like a porch or patio, and transplant them after the two weeks are up.
Kale comes in shades of green, blue, purple, and white. Plant classic crops, like ‘Dinosaur,’ or sow red, frilly wonders like ‘Redbor.’
Onion
Onions love cool weather, and their seeds will germinate at low temperatures. Harvest their greens as they grow to get multiple crops from the same plants. Some seeds may germinate this November, and others will sprout in the spring as the weather warms.
Different onions need varying amounts of daylight to form a bulb. In southern states, sow short-day onions that need 12 hours to mature. In northern states, sow intermediate- or long-day onions that mature with 12 to 16 hours of daylight.
For onion-like flavor, sow cold-hardy chives. They’re perennial, so you’ll only have to sow them once to harvest them for years to come. Their tiny bulbs taste a tad milder than onions, and the leaves are delicious fresh or cooked.
Parsley
Parsley, like cilantro, is a tasty herb that grows well in November. I have a continuous parsley patch where the plants grow leaves, flowers, and seeds that repeat the cycle. The seeds fall to the ground and sprout new plants to overwinter.
Parsley may not overwinter well in the coldest regions of the U.S. Use a cloche to cover individual plants, or place potted ones in a cold frame.
Parsley is a biennial plant, meaning it matures over multiple seasons. It’ll produce leaves in its first year, and flowers and seeds in its second. Mulch its roots heavily this November to help it survive the cold.
Parsnip
Parsnips are cold-hardy root crops. They’re not as popular November crops to plant as beets and carrots, but they should be! They’re delicious; roast them in olive oil, salt, and pepper, or boil them and toss them in a sauce. You may also grate the fresh parsnips over salads like you would with carrots.
Parsnips love cold weather. Sow them starting in August, when the weather cools, and continue sowing them as long as the weather permits. Some gardeners may plant them in November, while others may need to wait until spring if their garden is frozen.
These white carrot-like crops taste better after a frost. Leave them in the ground while they mature, then harvest them after a frosty night to enjoy the best flavor.
Scallion
Scallions, or green onions, provide mild onion flavor in small leaves that stay more tender than large onion leaves. If you leave some varieties, they’ll form a small bulb that cooks well like a normal onion.
Sow a thick row of scallions for leafy harvests, and space them out if you’d like to enjoy both the leaves and the bulbous lower portions.
For a unique color and sharp flavor, try growing ‘Italian Red of Florence.’ Also called a bunching onion, this variety features red bulbs and green leaves. They’re perfect for the Christmas season!
Shallot
Shallots are mini onions that grow bigger than scallions. There are so many types of onions you can plant! Shallots are a favorite for their thin layers and powerful flavor. Many chefs prefer shallots to onions.
Shallots grow well in many gardens, and some bolt-resistant varieties grow well in hot climates. Sow them indoors ahead of time for transplanting, or plant these crops this November for overwintering. Protect the young seedlings with mulch to help them thrive.
Spinach
Spinach forms two crops. Harvest the young leaves as baby greens, or snip the mature plants for large, tender greens. Baby greens may do better than mature crops, as they need less time to mature.
Plant spinach crops in early November for a harvest at the end of the month. It’s one of the best crops for smoothies, salads, and fresh dishes, as its crunchy texture and powerful flavor are hard to beat.
For baby greens, try ‘Oceanside.’ You’ll harvest these crops in 25 days! Or, let the plants mature for two months to harvest them when they’re mature.
Turnip
Another root crop, the lowly turnip, is perfect to plant this November! It’s often overlooked in seed catalogs and restaurant menus, but its flavor is incredible when you grow it yourself.
Plant turnip crops to try them yourself. The roots mature quickly, and their leafy greens are edible fresh or cooked.
A delicacy, the Japanese turnip is great for fresh or pickled recipes. They’re all white instead of purple, like the ‘White Lady’ variety.
Winter Pea
Winter peas are frost-hardy legumes that insulate the soil and work as cover crops. Their roots fix nitrogen, like fava beans, turning gaseous nitrogen into a form in the soil that plants can use. When you plant them, you’ll help your garden and your kitchen.
To work as cover crops, you must cut the plants and incorporate them into the soil to let them decay. Do so right as they begin flowering. The nitrogen in their roots will decay and feed your other crops.
If you’d like to eat the peas, simply let them thrive. Add mulch around the soil, and plant seeds continuously for repeat harvests.
