Four Fast and Easy Vegetables to Grow in the Fall

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Looseleaf lettuce, arugula, spinach and radish are all vegetables plants that are easy to grow and, when planted in September, can be ready for November harvest.

Looseleaf lettuce is one of the most commonly grown vegetable plants in the home garden and comes in a wide range of red and green color variations, from pale green to solid red-purple that can be so dark as to be almost black, with many varieties that combine both colors. Looseleaf is generally more nutritious and less crunchy than crisphead lettuce. Mesclun is a combination of a few to several plants that often includes looseleaf lettuce; mesclun seed mixes are grown similarly to looseleaf lettuce. Gardeners who have not yet gown their own looseleaf lettuce will find homegrown lettuce to be significantly more hydrated than what they find in their local supermarket. To view customized instructions for growing looseleaf lettuce in your area, click here.

Spinach is an annual cool-season vegetable in the Amaranthaceae family, related to beets, chard, quinoa, and tumbleweeds. GardenZeus recommends planting heat-tolerant spinach varieties in both fall and late winter in inland areas of Southern California. Like many leafy greens, spinach has the advantage of being harvested as baby spinach, with large leaves and mature plant.  To view customized instructions for growing spinach in your area, click here.

Arugula is a cool-season green generally grown as an annual. It is famous for the spiciness of its leaves, and is one of the strongest-flavored garden greens. It has many common names including rocket, salad rocket, garden rocket, and roquette, and is in the Brassica family (Brassicaceae), related to kale, turnips, cabbage, cauliflower and radishes. Arugula sativa, is milder-flavored, less-weedy, and rounder-leafed, while Diplotaxis tenuifolia is more pungent, weedier, and has leaves that are usually more deeply lobed with a pointed tip. Both varieties produce edible flowers. To grow customized instructions for growing arugula in your area, click here.

Radishes are annual or biennial, cold-season cruciferous vegetables in the Brassica family (Brassicaceae), related to turnips, arugula, broccoli, and cabbage. Radishes are grown primarily for their mild-to-spicy taproots, but also for their edible leaves. Radishes come in a surprising variety of root colors, shapes, sizes, and degrees of mildness or spiciness. Root colors vary beyond the standard grocery-store red, from white and off-white to yellow, pink, purple, and black, with most varieties having white or mostly white flesh, regardless of the external root color. In shape they vary from round to oblong or carrot-shaped, to the very large, deeply rooted, variably shaped fodder radishes. Take advantage of the many seed varieties available to home gardeners and grow a variety not readily available in either supermarkets or farmers markets. To view customized instructions for growing radishes in your area, click here.

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