what food plants can i grow in the winter or autumn?

Really depends on your winter. In warm desert southwest and semi tropical areas, they can grow cool season crops like peas, lettuce, cold crops: broccoli, etc.

I'm in zone 6-7 and there's a year round veggie greenhouse operation less than a mile away without supplemental heat. By using special soil warming film on the ground and frost blankets ove the crop and of course the greenhouse......they are able to grow salad greens, radish with ease. I'm sure they have more crops.

If you don't have the greenhouse set up, just a garden, you'll need some type of frost protection devices to keep your herbs. Most perennial herbs would probably do well. I'm not sure about the annuals like basil......I'm thinking too cold.

Before the frost cloth we used cold frames......google that. And back when horse manure was plentiful the cold frames were heated...hot frames...by having a thick layer of composting horse manure under the plants)

If you don't want to cover or if you are in zone 5 or lower, your winter garden would mainly be that which grew in fall and is protected under think mulch. This would be root crops such as carrots, turnips, parsnips. No herbs.

Hi sayswho

I have had a lot of fun experimenting with plants I can grow in the fall and winter. There are many plants that actually do best if grown in the cool of fall and some that do pretty well in the winter.

This past summer I planted for fall harvest and was rewarded with numerous winter squashes, lettuce, turnips and greens, broccoli, cauliflower, brussels sprouts etc. I just planted lettuce in December under a cover made of pvc pipe and plastic and it is doing fine. I'll have more lettuce soon to go with some I planted earlier. (Hint - a bit off the subject but nice to know. Direct steam from a kettle through your pvc and you can bend it to any shape you want). I also have the following growing right now. Brussels sprouts, carrots, onions, garlic, I am going to plant some spinach under cover and see how that does.

I am in zone 7 so it is warmer here than parts of the country and we've had a pretty mild winter so far. A lot depends on the zone you are in. Research the web page of the nearest agricultural college. They will be very helpful in giving you information regarding planting dates etc for your area.

Suggested Fall Garden Vegetables - Obtained from my local agricultural college (Mississippi State University)

Bush Snap Bean

Beets

Broccoli

Cabbage

Carrots

Cauliflower

Chard

Chinese Cabbage Kohlrabi

Lettuce

Mustard

Onions

Radishes

Rutabagas

Spinach

Turnips

I hope this helps

Most don't grow due to the ground being too cold. Your best bet is to have a greenhouse - you can buy these in kit form and they are easy to erect. Here's a guide that will show you how to build one - http://hometipster.com/Gardening/how_to_build_a_gr...

For more information on growing Vegetables and Fruits try the Gardening Section - http://hometipster.com/gardening/home.aspx - there are lots of useful guides on the subject.

Hope this helps.

It's an interesting question. Some types of spinach will grow, some salads grow year round, it depends on the species and how cold your winters are, where you want to grow them.