Most of the country is pulling out the summer garden right now. But if you're in the South, or anywhere with mild winters, late October is the start of one of the best growing seasons of the year. Cool nights, warm soil, and fewer bugs make this the perfect time for leafy greens, and few greens are as easy, fast, or forgiving as mustard, collards, and their Asian cousins tatsoi and pak choi.
These are the greens that taste better after a frost. Here's how to get them in the ground now and keep harvesting well into winter.
Why fall is the best time for these greens
Mustard, collards, tatsoi, and pak choi are all brassicas, in the same family as cabbage and kale. They love cool weather, and they have a frustrating habit of bolting (sending up flower stalks and turning bitter) as soon as spring days get long and hot. Sowing in fall flips that problem around. The days are getting shorter and cooler, so the plants stay leafy and tender instead of rushing to flower.
There's a flavor bonus too. When temperatures dip near freezing, these plants convert some of their starches into sugars, which act like a natural antifreeze. The result is sweeter, milder leaves. Ask any Southern cook: collards picked after the first frost are the best collards of the year.
Four greens to sow now
Southern Giant Curled Mustard
If you want results fast, start here. Southern Giant Curled Mustard germinates in just a few days in warm fall soil and gives you baby greens in about three weeks, with full-size, frilly leaves in roughly 40 to 50 days. The flavor is peppery and bold when raw, and it mellows beautifully when sautéed or simmered. It's a Southern classic for a reason. Pick the outer leaves and the plant keeps producing for weeks.
Georgia Collards
Georgia Collards are the heirloom standard: big blue-green leaves on a tough, heat- and cold-tolerant plant. They take longer than mustard, about 75 to 80 days to full size, but you can start picking young leaves much sooner. Collards are among the most cold-hardy greens you can grow, typically shrugging off frosts and hard freezes into the low 20s°F. In much of the South, one fall sowing can feed you all winter.
Tatsoi
Tatsoi forms a low, flat rosette of glossy, spoon-shaped leaves with a mild, buttery mustard flavor. It's ready in about 45 days, and baby leaves can be cut at three to four weeks for salads. Tatsoi is impressively cold-tolerant and a favorite for winter cold frames. It's also one of the prettiest plants in a fall bed.
Pak Choi
Pak Choi (bok choy) gives you crunchy white stems and tender green leaves in about 45 to 60 days. Fall is truly the best time to grow it, since spring-sown pak choi bolts quickly once the weather warms. Harvest the whole head, or cut it a couple of inches above the soil and let it resprout for a second, smaller harvest.
When to sow, by region
- Zones 8 to 10 (Gulf Coast, Florida, Texas, Southern California, the Desert Southwest): This is prime time. Sow now through December, and plan a second sowing in two to three weeks for a steady supply.
- Zone 7: You're near the end of the window. Mustard and tatsoi sown now will still give you baby greens before the coldest weather. A row cover or cold frame will stretch the harvest.
- Zones 3 to 6: It's too late for an outdoor crop this year, but tatsoi and mustard grow well in a cold frame, a covered raised bed, or a sunny window as cut-and-come-again baby greens.
How to plant
- Pick a sunny spot. Fall sun is lower and weaker, so give these greens at least six hours of direct light.
- Loosen the soil and add compost. Leafy greens are heavy nitrogen feeders. A couple inches of compost worked in makes a real difference.
- Sow shallow. Plant seeds about 1/4 inch deep. For mustard and tatsoi, you can scatter seed in a wide band for baby greens, or sow in rows and thin plants to 6 to 8 inches apart for full-size leaves. Collards need more room; thin to 12 to 18 inches.
- Keep the soil evenly moist until seedlings are up, usually within a week. After that, about an inch of water a week is plenty, less if fall rains cooperate.
- Eat your thinnings. The seedlings you pull out are perfect microgreens for salads and sandwiches.
Keep an eye out for pests
Cooler weather slows most garden pests, but cabbage worms and aphids can still show up in early fall. A lightweight row cover laid over hoops keeps cabbage moths from laying eggs and adds a few degrees of frost protection later in the season. Check the undersides of leaves every few days. A blast of water handles aphids, and hand-picking takes care of the occasional green caterpillar.
Harvest and enjoy
For all four greens, harvest from the outside in. Take the larger outer leaves and leave the center growing, and you'll keep the plants producing for weeks or months. Pick in the morning when the leaves are crisp, and store them unwashed in a bag in the fridge.
Mustard and collards are classic simmered with onion and a splash of vinegar. Tatsoi and pak choi shine in quick stir-fries, soups, and salads. A single packet of each can keep a family in fresh greens all winter, which is a pretty good return on a few dollars of seed and a free fall afternoon.
Happy sowing!