This weekend, I am putting in -
Sweet peas
Onion bulblets ($1 a pack at Home depot)
Spinch
Swiss Chard
Fava beans(if I can find the seeds saved from last year)
Daikon
Mustard green

I believe they are all fall crops

Pattie,
We garden in Central Texas, zone 8B and have always had a fall garden. In September we put in three kinds of leaf lettuce (Black-seeded Simpson, Ruby, and Oakleaf), edible pod peas, crookneck squash, broccoli transplants, radishes, and bush beans. In October we second plant the leaf lettuce and put in parsley, garlic, and onion seed (1015), and spinach. Then in November we do another planting of spinach.
Cabbage and cauliflower can be planted in October from transplants, but since we don't use much of either, we don't bother with it.
Good luck with your fall garden. I hope it will be very productive for you!

Greenthunbsj and marlingardener, thanks for your suggestions.
I like the lettuce, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, brussel sprouts, peas, beans, onions, garlic ideas. When do you plant carrots? are they ok. Are all beans good for fall(pintos)? Still accepting ideas. LOL. I'm getting hungry. :O)
Thanks again,
Pattie

mcbdz, The link below shows Louisiana Vegetable Planting Guide (in case you may not have this). I've used this guide for quite a while. I have a paper copy of the original version with a publish date of 1980. This guide has been very helpful for knowing when to plant. It's also possible to sometimes (weather permitting) "stretch" some of the planting windows.

Hope this helps out.

Here is a link that might be useful: Louisiana Vegetable Planting Guide

Pattie,

I stopped growing carrots because they never get any longer than the size of my thumb. they get much fatter but last year I tried daikon for the first time and had good success(was a bit hot for my taste but I was told it was due to heat so I will plant them at semi-shade this year). I guess I will give another go with carrots but i have not had a single good crop ever.

I did plant broccoli and cauliflower seeds that should be ready for transplant in a month or so - I forgot to mention this :)

Pattie,
We plant Danvers Half-long carrots in the early spring. The one time I tried them in the fall they got woody cores. I don't know if it was the garden, the gardener, or the variety, but I haven't tried a fall planting of carrots since. The spring ones do great, though!

I've planted various onions, various lettuce, mustard, various spinach, bok choy, kailen, swiss chard, beets, radishes and kohlrabi. I have parsley going strong that I planted in the shade in summer. Cilantro just got planted. I need to get the turnips and more radishes in this weekend. Haven't ever tried to grow carrots since I only use them occasionally and only in soup.

If I can make any more room, I will plant arugula and more asian greens.

Ania

I'm almost ready to plant, after my superb yard man builds up the sides of my raised beds this week. If nothing else I will have lettuces, lettuces and more lettuces. I grow mostly leaf lettuce and a mesclun mix, but my spring crop of varieties of Romaine lettuces did extremely well, so I'll be doing lots of them too. Chard has done well for me here, and I may try some garlic. Radishes will have a spot too. I don't know where you are in Louisiana, but if your climate is anything close to mine here in coastal Georgia you may be able to keep lettuce going all winter unless you get a really hard freeze. My lettuces have survived frosts very happily with a sheet tossed over them at night, and so would spinach, chard, etc. Keep us posted on what you decide to plant!

Lacinato kale and tronchuda cabbage/kale is really good in soups. Other brassicas: bok choy or pak choi, mustard greens, collards, Brussels sprouts, savoy, green and red cabbbages, broccoli, cauliflower and radishes. You may be able to grow potatoes too. Leeks, shallots, scallions, garlic (bulbing onions are considered more difficult) grow well in cool temps. Also parsley and chives. And English peas, sugar snap peas and snow peas like cool weather.

There are garden books with charts showing how many pounds of produce you can expect per square foot (potatoes are very high, onions too) and consider what it would cost if you bought it (potatoes and onions are cheap where I live but I like to grow varieties that are commercially unavailable and the convenience of having them just outside my door).

Thanks everyone for all your advice. I hopefully can make it by one of my farm supply stores and see what they offer tomorrow.
It has been raining here for over a week and the soil is so wet I don't think I'll get to till for days or maybe a week. I do hope to get started next week.
I hurt my back this summer gardening and will have to really stay on top of the garden and do some cheating with round up for the edges and rows for now on. That is really different. I usually love to weed but, I'll be lucky to harvest myself this year. Maybe I can get some of the kids to do something. LOL. I'll let you know what I find and decide on. Most likely will need advice again.
Hope everyone has great gardens this fall/winter
Pattie

Pattie, on the carrots question, last year I planted Nantes and Danvers Half Long. Prior to this I only planted Danvers Half Long. I prefer the Nantes based on taste, shape and color. So this year I'm only planting the Nantes. I find carrot seeds at the several dollar stores (Dollar General, Family Dollar, Dollar Tree to mention a few). They have a large selection of open pollinated type seeds but rarely any hybrids. I usually plant mostly the OP types for carrots, spinach, radishes, lettuce, etc.

GREENTHUMBS..... if youre in zone 9, i doubt that the chard will germinate and/or survive the heat... i tried it three weeks ago, in zone 7, and they didn't make it. chard is a truly cold weather crop. good luck.

I am so glad to see this many southerners on here!

This is my first year ever for a fall garden and it's being interesting...some successes and some failures. So far I have a really good stand of turnips, collards, cabbage, Bright Lights chard, beets and bunching onions. I have had major trouble getting the lettuces, spinach, and kales to germinate. I replanted the kales inside in 6 packs and every seed came up....still too hot outdoors. I decided to try re-planting the lettuces, carrots and spinach in late September. I have invested in floating row covers and they are doing a great job of keeping insects off my seedlings. From what I read, they should make it possisble to grow most of these veggies through most, if not all of the winter.

FYI, two years ago I grew some beautiful romaine lettuces and carrots all winter long in window boxes.

diclemeg,

I had way way too much chard seeds than I could use so I put them into compost and now they are everywhere. I have some that are about the size of a store cabbage but they grow to be about 18" tall. I noticed that chard do very well even in summer but they need plenty of water.

"GREENTHUMBS..... if youre in zone 9, i doubt that the chard will germinate and/or survive the heat... i tried it three weeks ago, in zone 7, and they didn't make it. chard is a truly cold weather crop. good luck."

Hmmm....mine germinated outside in 100+ degree weather.
Ania

Everyone's already listed about everything I know that you can grow in winter except dill and fennel. Those prefer cool weather as well.

And on the subject of the onion family ~ you can plant bunching onions, potato onions, shallots, walking onions, leeks, garlic and chives from plants or sets now (bulbs, corms, etc.), but I wouldn't plant bulbing onions from anything but seeds right now. If bulbing onions are two years old (or is it three?), they'll flower, so if you plant sets now and they go through a full winter, they'll think they're old enough to flower and will do that by spring. If you plant seeds now, they'll still act like they're young next spring and won't flower (or won't flower nearly as much ~ there's always an oddball it seems). If they flower you can still eat the bulb, but it'll have a tough flower stalk through the middle of it. Ick. And a pita to cut out.

Hello all,
I am planting my first Fall garden in SW GA. I planted "Detroit Dark Red" beets, "Ruby Queen" beets and "Nantes Scarlet" carrots last weekend. I planted "De Cicco" broccoli (transplants), "Summer Glory Blend" lettuce (from Park's), "Bloomdale Longstanding" spinach and "Tendergreen" mustard today.

Grandad, I'm glad to read that the "Nantes" did well for you. I hope it performs well for me.

I do have a question.....The University of Georgia Cooperative Extension Service Planting Chart did not recommend planting garden peas in the Fall in Georgia. The listed planting dates are between 1/15 and 2/15. Have any of you planted garden peas successfully in the Fall? I am planning to plant "Laxton Progress #9" garden pea.