Whether we are new to gardening or well-seasoned. On a nice spring day, it can be tempting to bring home those bushy tomato plants from the garden center, and they’re on shelves long before it’s safe to plant them outside. But if it’s too early for tomatoes, what is a gardener to do in the shoulder season of cool spring temperatures? 

Many of our favorite garden crops actually do better in the cool weather of spring or fall, and not so well in the heat of summer. Planting a few cool-season crops not only scratches the gardening itch but also helps you use the space you have more effectively. Getting an extra harvest from the same bed maximizes your investment.

What is a cool-season crop?

Cool-season crops are those we can plant before the last spring frosts, or again in late summer and early fall to grow past the frosts in autumn. They do best in the cooler shoulder seasons and, in many cases, won’t produce well or simply go to seed in the heat of summer. They are a great way to get a jump on the gardening season, get a bit more produce out of a garden bed, and make the most of the space you have.

Cool-season crops can seem a bit more tricky to grow. The weather is unpredictable, we sow seeds in colder ground, and the timing can be a little more demanding. But there are plenty of easily grown cool-season crops to try.

For new gardeners, picking a few easy-to-grow cool-season crops can be difficult, so here are a few that should work out well and get some wins under your belt.

Radishes

I love radishes. I don’t always love to eat them if they’re too spicy, but they are so willing to grow, easy to seed, and fast that they always make me smile. My favorite, French Breakfast, is ready in less than a month. Radishes are quite quick to germinate, so much so that they are often used to mark the rows for slower-germinating plants like carrots or parsnips. 

Radishes can be sown directly in the garden as soon as the soil is workable, even well before your last frost date. As long as the soil or raised bed isn’t mucky and wet, you can tuck a few radish seeds in. 

Radishes are best eaten when they are just reaching mature size. Leaving them too long can cause them to get woody, split, or become off-flavored. 

Peas

Sugar peas, snap peas, and shelling peas all like to get a cool-weather start. They stop setting blossoms, and even stop growing in hot weather. The large seeds are easy to sow, and grow quickly, providing greenery for the trellis or arch, and some tasty pods and peas a few weeks later. 

Sow peas about an inch deep as soon as the soil is workable. Peas love something to climb. Nearly any upright item will do: a fence post, trellis, deck railing, or even a chain-link fence. You may have to “introduce” them to the vertical structure, but once they become acquainted, they’ll swarm up on their own. Growing peas vertically also makes it much easier to find and harvest the pods, whether to take into the kitchen or just for a snack while wandering the garden.

Spinach

This green isn’t just for Popeye. Besides being high in nutrients, spinach is a versatile kitchen ingredient. And, it’s easy to grow in the garden. But spinach hates hot weather and typically stops growing once temperatures reach the 80s. Spring and late autumn are the time to grow spinach. Even bolt-resistant varieties will slow down or eventually bolt in the hot summer sun. 

Sow spinach directly into garden beds or containers in spring as early as three weeks before your last spring frosts. While spinach is a cut-and-come-again kind of plant, like leaf lettuce, it is still a good candidate for succession planting, as younger plants are more tender and mild-flavored than older ones. Sow a new row of spinach every Saturday, and keep going until the weather is so warm you are starting to think about the beach instead of gardening.

Lettuces

Leaf lettuces, those lettuces that don’t form dense heads, are perfect for growing as an early-season crop, and they’re quite willing to pop up and grow in cool weather. When sowing lettuce outside, whether in a raised bed, a traditional garden bed, or a container, sow the seeds a bit more closely. 

After these plants have all popped up and are a couple of inches tall, you can thin them and eat the plants you removed. Final spacing should be 4-6 inches between plants, depending on the variety. 

Lettuce likes to bolt in hot weather, and even if it doesn’t bolt, it often starts to get bitter. To extend your lettuce harvest, plant the cool-loving varieties first, then switch to bolt-resistant or heat-tolerant varieties as spring moves into summer. A bit of shade cloth hung over the lettuce bed will provide an extra week or two of tasty lettuce as temperatures get hot.

Beets

Beets perform double duty, providing both tasty roots and delicious greens. All parts of the beet plant are edible. ‘Early Wonder’ is a good producer of early greenery for adding to salads or sandwiches. While it takes 50 days for the roots to mature (which is still fast), the greens are ready much sooner. Plant extra seeds so you can harvest some for greens and leave a few to grow into beets.

Beets need good drainage, and you’ll have better germination if you lightly cover the bed with mulch to prevent the soil surface from crusting over. 

A spring (inedible) flower to bring early color

While most of our annual flowers like the heat, sweet peas (Lathyrus odoratus) are prolific late spring bloomers that need a head start in cool weather. Their color and fragrance are well worth the effort. Like regular peas, they’ll appreciate something to climb so they can show off their fragrant blooms.

Soak sweet pea seeds for 24 hours before planting to soften the seed coat. They can be started indoors four weeks before planting out or directly sown in the garden. They can take three weeks to sprout, so be patient and plan ahead. Once they are up, the seedlings can handle light frosts, but cover them if temperatures dip below the high 20s.

Cool Season Tips for Success

Planting in early spring or growing cool-season crops through the frosts of autumn is a little different from gardening in the heat of summer. 

• Watch the long-range forecast: Especially for the first planting of the year, warm spring weather is often followed by a cold snap. While cool-season crops are typically frost-tolerant, a few days of bitter cold can still kill young seedlings that have not toughened up yet. If there’s a chilly dip in the weather ahead, wait to plant until after.

• Pay close attention to soil moisture: Soil doesn’t dry down as quickly in spring and fall, so it can be easy to overwater or plant in soggy conditions. The sun isn’t causing as much evaporation, and the plants are either small or on their way to dormancy. Either way, they aren’t pulling as much water from the soil. If your site is typically wet in the shoulder seasons, try a raised bed or a large planter for these cool-season crops. 

• Watch for pests: Rabbits love to nip off early-season greens when not much else is available and the yard is still brown. Slugs are common thieves of young seedlings and thrive in the damp conditions found in spring and fall. And should the deer find your new planting, they’ll be happy to make a snack of it. Take precautions like slug baits and row covers to minimize damage.

• Be patient: Even cool-weather-loving crops germinate slowly in cold soil. Seeds that might pop up in a few days at 60℉ can take as long as 2 weeks at 45℉. It’s another reason to utilize raised beds in the spring. They warm up more quickly.

• Pick a spot in full sun: The early and late season sunshine isn’t as powerful as the midsummer rays, so every hour counts. 

Stick with it: If a planting doesn’t work out, don’t worry. If nothing pops up in 10-14 days, sow another round.