Winter Vegetable Gardening in the USA

What your zone does and does not tell you

The USDA map sorts the country into zones by the average annual extreme minimum winter temperature over 30 years; it is not the coldest night ever recorded. That is the right number for perennials such as asparagus, rhubarb and strawberries. For annual vegetables, plan from your last spring and first fall frost dates.

Keeping the harvest

Carrots and beets last longest just above freezing, around 32°F, with very high humidity, so the coldest, dampest storage you have that does not freeze is the place for them, with the leafy tops cut off.

Greens under cover

Cold frames, low tunnels and row covers can keep hardy greens going beyond the frost dates. The hardiest crops need little protection; less hardy ones should have been picked or covered before the hard freezes.

Starting seeds indoors

Late winter is seed-starting time. Most transplants are sown indoors several weeks before they go out, the number depending on the crop; each guide, such as tomatoes or onions, gives its own lead time. Count back from your last spring frost and leave one to two weeks at the end for hardening off.

Winter in the warmest zones

In Florida, the Gulf Coast and the Arizona low desert, the main cool-season garden is started in fall; see the fall gardening page and the month pages for what goes in when. Keep row covers handy for a cold night.

Winter, month by month

• What to plant in December
• What to plant in January
• What to plant in February
• USA vegetable planting calendar

Winter questions

Sources and further reading

• University of Illinois Extension: Carrots
• South Dakota State University Extension: Harvesting and storing root vegetables
• Utah State University Extension: Root crops: harvest and storage
• Iowa State University Extension: Storing winter storage vegetables
• South Dakota State University Extension: Planting garlic
• Penn State Extension: Growing garlic: fall planting
• University of Illinois Extension: How to grow garlic
• UNH Extension: Starting plants from seed (fact sheet)
• University of Illinois Extension: Planting a fall vegetable garden
• West Virginia University Extension: Vegetable transplant production
• UF/IFAS Gardening Solutions: Vegetable gardens by season
• University of Arizona Cooperative Extension: Fall vegetable gardening
• LSU AgCenter: Vegetable gardening in the fall
• USDA Agricultural Research Service: How to use the maps (USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map)
• Iowa State University Extension: New plant hardiness zone map released from the USDA
• University of Wisconsin–Madison Extension: Hardiness zone maps
• University of Illinois Extension: Starting a garden: cool-season vegetables
• Penn State Extension: Cool-season vs. warm-season vegetables
• Iowa State University Extension: What’s the difference between cool and warm season veggies?
• Colorado State University Extension: Vegetable planting guide
• Oregon State University Extension: Growing your own (EM 9027)
• Alabama Cooperative Extension System: Basics of fall vegetable gardening
• South Dakota State University Extension: Season extension for fall specialty crops
• Penn State Extension: Season extenders and growing fall vegetables
• UNH Extension: Fall vegetable gardening
• University of Illinois Extension: Fill a fall vegetable garden with variety: the cold-hardy choices may surprise you
• University of Illinois Extension: Starting a garden: hardening off indoor seedlings

Facts on this page are summarized in our own words from the pages above; each is supported by at least two of them, or by one plus well-established growing science (noted in our research file). Every source was opened and checked on October 23, 2026.

Put this season on paper

A season goes better when it is written down. Sketch what goes where in the free Vegetable Garden Layout Planner Tool, then keep sowing dates, harvests and notes for the whole year in the USA Vegetable Garden Planner (printable PDF). Every crop we cover is in the USA growing guides.