When most people think of a vegetable & herb garden, they picture planting around Memorial Day and harvesting mid to late summer. They think of delicious tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, and basil. This scene is completely accurate when it comes to vegetable & herb gardening in Northeast Ohio, but there’s so much more. If you’ve ever heard and been mystified by the term “cold crops”, if you’ve ever planted your tomatoes in April only to find them bitten by frost, or if you’ve ever been confused about what types of vegetables & herbs can be planted when, this is the place for you!
Modern Victory Garden
Differentiating Cold Crops & Heat Lovers
what are cold crops?
Cold crops are a whole category of edible plants that grow well in the cool weather months of spring and fall.
Think: leafy lettuces, cabbage, kale, collards, spinach, arugula, potatoes, onions, peas, carrots, swiss chard, beets, radishes, turnips, broccoli, and cauliflower. These plants are generally tolerant of frost, and they mature and produce, even with colder soil and shorter daylight. This why they’re ideal for planting March/April as soon as the ground is workable in Northeast Ohio for an early spring garden, and again in late August/September for a fall garden. If left to grow in the high heat of summer, many cold crops will bolt once the weather turns consistently hot, meaning they’ll grow rapidly, flower, go to seed, and shut down.
Fun fact, strawberries are perennial plants that are naturally cold hardy and tolerant of mildly freezing temperatures, and so they, too, can be planted early spring when soil is workable (though they do benefit from protection during the extreme temperature swings of early spring).
Heat-Loving Veggies
Many of the vegetables, herbs, and fruits gardeners get excited about are heat lovers. These are the edible plants that may be most familiar to you.
Think: Tomatoes, Bell Peppers, Hot Peppers, Zucchini, Squash, Cucumbers, Eggplant, Beans, Okra, Corn, Watermelon, and more. Here in Northeast Ohio, these all-stars of the vegetable garden can be started from seed indoors in late winter/early spring. Seedlings and starter plants can be placed outdoors on nice days in spring, but they are extremely sensitive to frost and so should be brought in or under protection anytime there is risk for frost. While planting in outdoor containers in April/May is okay – so long as you bring them in for frosty nights – we recommend that you hold off on permanently committing these plants to in-ground gardens until mid to late May, once the danger of frost has passed. May 15 is Northeast Ohio’s average Frost-Free/Last-Frost date. A milestone “safe” date many Northeast Ohio vegetable gardeners live by is Memorial Day.
herbs
Herbs are a fun category of edible plants because they’re very easy to grow and manage, especially in containers, and most take up little space.
Many herbs can be successfully grown year-round as indoor houseplants, but most all of them need a Full Sun spot to thrive, whether indoors or outdoors. These plants are generally frost-sensitive and so, much like the heat-loving veggies described above, should not be left permanently outdoors in spring until the danger of frost has passed. For a list of herbs, their delicious uses, care needs, harvest tips, and drying or preserving instructions, view our Herb Gardening Growing Guide.
bringing it all together
Now that you can distinguish between “cold crop” varieties and those familiar heat-loving vegetables and herbs, imagine all the possibilities that can come from just one garden, whether it’s in-ground, in raised beds, or in containers. You can plant cold crops in March to enjoy Phase 1 of your garden in early spring; then swap out Memorial Day for Phase 2 summertime heat lovers; then make a triumphant return to cold crops for Phase 3 in September. Planning a progressive garden is an excellent way to get the most out of any kind of garden space!
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