Vegetable-Growing Notes for Central Virginia

Rows of Healthy Lettuc

The following list contains the dates of last planting for fall, cold hardiness and some favorite varieties. Note: this information is based on experience of growing crops in zone 6b (winter low ~0°F) here in central Virginia, first fall frost ~10/15, heavy winter temperatures not kicking in until late Dec/early January (i.e., daytime temperatures not getting above freezing, nights below 10°). Cold hardiness also varies with varieties, the health of the garden soil (healthier and more nutritious the soil = the hardier the plants), wind chill factor, etc.

• Broccoli (6/1-7/1) — 28° — leaves can handle to 15°, but heads are more tender
• Cabbage (6/1-7/1) — 20-25° — if damaged by frost, harvest and peel off any damaged layers before storing.
• Chinese Cabbage (7/31) — 25°
• Cauliflower (6/1-7/1) — 32° — leaves can handle to 15°, but heads damage easily.
• Kohlrabi (8/15) (Early Purple Vienna) — 20°? not sure.
• Green onions (8/1) (Evergreen Hardy White, Deep Purple) — 25° (purple types have more color in cold weather)
• Garlic (10/1-/11/15) — 5° if not too much top growth (i.e., started ~mid-Oct-early Nov); frost-burned plants will survive, but won’t produce as large a bulb.
• Leeks — (7/15) 10° (probably much lower) (American Flag) (’summer’ types are much more tender, don’t try to overwinter them)
• Collards (9/15) — 12° — start a fall crop, since young collards are shorter/easier to cover.
• Kale (9/15) — Red Russian — 15°
  • Scotch types (Squire, Vates, Siberian) – 12°
• Swiss chard (9/1) — variable – smaller-leaved varieties are the most cold-hardy — 25°?
• Arugula (10/10) — 22° (will bolt in Jan/Feb as days lengthen)
• Even Star Winter Arugula — 6°
• Mustards (9/15) (Red Giant, Southern Curled) — 25° (will bolt in Jan/Feb as days lengthen)
  • Tat Soi Mustard (up to 10/15 — do succession plantings 1-2 weeks apart) 22° (good mustard to overwinter — hardy, close to ground, easy to cover — but will bolt in Jan/Feb as days lengthen)
  • New Star Mustard, Chinese Thick-Stem Mustard — Even’ Star winter-hardy varieties — 6-12°
• Parsley — flat leaf (7/15) — 20° (Flat Leaf Italian) (best for flavor and drying, but less hardy)
  • Curly leaf (7/15) — 15° (Moss Curled) (not as good flavor, but prettier, more hardy)
• Cilantro — (9/15-10/1) 15° (plant earlier for fall harvests, later for overwintering crops — younger/smaller plants overwinter best). In hot soil, cilantro can have trouble germinating — see notes under Watering.
• Dill (9/15) – 25° (Fernleaf)
• Spinach (Long Standing Bloomsdale, Winter Bloomsdale) (9/10-9/25) — 10° (large leaves), 5° (small leaves). Wait until cool weather to seed — doesn’t germinate/survive well in hot soil.
• Sorrel (Broad Leaved) (9/1) — 12° (large leaves), 5° (small leaves)
• Salad Burnet (9/1) — 0° (leaves have strong cucumber flavor — use small amounts for salads)
• Endive, escarole — 25° and lower (similar to lettuce)
• Radicchio — 25° and lower
• Lettuce — 25° (large leaves), 15° and lower (small leaves) (Red Salad Bowl, Bronze Arrow, Winter Density, Rouge d’Hiver, Red Sails) (Red lettuces are best for cold weather — the cold makes the red colors more intense, whereas in cold weather green lettuces look more yellow and sickly.) Lettuce can have a hard time germinating in hot soil — see notes under Watering.
  • Large lettuce: 9/15. (Large heads don’t handle very cold weather well — usually rot and decline fast ~mid-December.)
  • Small lettuce to overwinter: 10/1-/15; get it to 4-10 leaves before winter — it’ll slow down, then mature in February/March.
• Beets (9/15) (Lutz Green Leaf, Chioggia, Bulls Blood) — 20° (roots), 16° (leaves). For fall crop, either seed by 6/15, or wait until cool weather to try again — doesn’t germinate/survive well in hot soil.
• Radishes (11/1) — 20° (roots), 16° (leaves) (Cherry Belle)
• Daikon radishes, fall radishes (8/1-8/15) — 20° (roots), 16° (leaves) (Misato Rose, China Rose, Black Spanish Round, Miyashige White Daikon)
• Parsnips (6/1) — 0° (get very sweet in cold weather!!) (Harris Model, Hollow Crown)
• Carrots (8/31) — 12° (Danvers, Oxheart)
• Rutabagas (8/15) — 20° (roots), 16° (leaves) (American Purple Top Yellow)
• Turnips (9/30) — 20° (roots), 16° (leaves) (Purple Top White Globe) (Seven Top — greens only)
• Salsify (6/15) (Sandwich Island Mammoth) — 20°? Not sure
• Jerusalem artichokes (sunchokes) — leave in ground, harvest anytime after frost and until the following April
• Other plants not covered here which I don’t have enough experience with to mention: corn salad (mache), cress, minutina, claytonia; fall crops of peas, calendula, borage.

Next week: Learn more about pests, storage and planning for vegetables. Brought to you by Southern Exposure Seed Exchange, located in Mineral, VA. Phone: 540-894-9480
Fax: 540-894-9481.