These Six Herbs Are Best for Planting in the Fall
As the seasons change, I want to encourage you that fall is not only a time to clean up the yard , but also an extra season for planting crops and building up your garden. Case in point: Why do we usually plant a bunch of herbs in the spring and ignore them in the fall, even though fall is the perfect time to get some of them in the ground? No, especially tender herbs like basil and Thai basil will not grow well, but there are quite a few cold and heat tolerant herbs that can be used in the later months.
Here are six herbs you should plant in the fall to enjoy cool-weather cooking.
Cilantro
Cilantro haters on the left, please. If you love cilantro (which I do), you know that it tends to bolt in the summer, which means it’ll have a good time, but not for long. That’s why fall is a good time to throw seeds into your garden beds to get some cilantro growing before frost sets in. Look for cold-hardy varieties such as Caribe .
Dill
If I had to choose only one herb for the rest of my life, it would be dill. Once it grows nearby, you will apply it everywhere. Although varieties like Dukat are more cold-tolerant than frost-hardy, if you’re lucky, you can get enough dill in your beds to sow yourself, effectively fertilizing the bed so that the dill comes back yearly. Seriously, do it. This is one of the best things in my garden.
Chives
I know we are all used to dried garlic , but the real version is much better. Chives are long, slightly pungent, and can be chopped for garnish, but can also be used to tie bunches of carrots together. Don’t overlook garlic flowers, which are very effective; use them to flavor vinegar and oil.
Parsley
I feel like parsley has been relegated to Pluto status – it smells like a generic, tasteless spice, but I like it, even the curly variety. The crisp, fresh crunch it adds to dishes is everything to me, and being able to assemble a whole bunch for a batch of tabbouleh is magical. Parsley is cold-resistant and self-sows.
Sage
Once you plant sage, you never have to plant it again—sage lasts a lifetime. Although you won’t get any new green leaves during the winter, you can still harvest what’s left and they’ll come back in abundance in the spring. To make sure you can enjoy it in the fall, get sage shoots instead of seeds—they’re still available at your local nursery.
Thyme
If you are going to bake something this winter, it is better with thyme. This low-lying groundcover can hide in your garden and survive almost any weather nature throws at it. A word of caution: make sure you use winter thyme and not summer thyme.
You don’t have to plant the herbs together, I spread them throughout the yard. You should store them where you have access during the winter, such as at the edge of a garden bed, somewhere where snow won’t block access.