Nicole Johnsey Burke (gardener with ~15 years experience in multiple U.S. climates) explains how to decide what to plant in November for gardeners in the Northern Hemisphere by classifying gardeners into two groups: "one" (you have had your first frost before Nov 1) and "two" (you have not). For "ones" she recommends cool-season crops that tolerate or prefer colder soil/air—spinach (plant if soil is workable and 45–55°F), root crops like carrots (short-duration varieties such as Danvers; sprouts in 10–14 days; first harvest ~60 days) and beets (prefer soil 40s–50s), slow-growing cabbages (start now for larger heads in spring), and cilantro (prefers cool weather; many plants will establish for early-spring harvest). For "twos" (milder climates) she recommends planting leafy greens (spring mix, arugula, butterhead lettuce), cool-loving herbs (dill, parsley), fast root crops like radishes (harvest within ~30 days; varieties: French Breakfast, watermelon radish), and winter-bearing fruits/legumes like sugar snap peas, snow peas, and fava beans (approx. 60–75 days to first harvest). She also briefly promotes an "Easy Garden Kit" and links to a garden-planner tutorial.
Questions this video answers
Someone who has already had their first frost before November 1 (overnight temps below 32°F).
Someone who has not had a frost before November 1 (milder or frost-free climate).
When soil temperature is between 45 and 55°F (and soil is workable).
About 45 to 65°F (with a small chance of frost at night).
Carrot sprouts in about 10–14 days; first harvest within ~60 days of planting (short-duration varieties recommended, e.g., Danvers).
Chapters
Do not plant a thing in November until you find out if you are a one or a two. My name is Nicole Burke. I've been gardening for like 15 years and I've gardened in three different climates. In the heat of Houston, Texas, in the cold of Chicago, Illinois, and now in the milder climate of Nashville, Tennessee. And I figured out how almost all of us can plant something every single month. And in this video, I'm going to help you know, if you're a one or two so you can know exactly what you should plant. And this month in November, to keep the garden going and of course, to have the most fun with your plants. You are a one if you have already had your first frost before November 1st. So if you already looked on your weather app and overnight the temperatures went down below 32 degrees Fahrenheit, then congratulations, you are a number one. Now you're a number two. If you haven't had a frost yet, that's it. So if you haven't had a frost before November 1st, it's coming in November, December, January, maybe it's never coming. Maybe you live in a frost free area, then you are going to be considered a number two. Now, slight caveat, this is only for people gardening in November in the Northern Hemisphere. If you're number one and you've already had frost, that doesn't mean that the entire gardening season is over. It just means that the warm season is over and you are now in the cool season, maybe eventually heading into a cold season. But you can still grow a ton of food because there's a lot of food that loves to grow when it's 45 to 65 degrees Fahrenheit and there's a little chance of frost at night. So one of my favorite things to grow when there's a lot of frost is spinach. Spinach absolutely loves cold soil. I don't know why, but it loves it. So put it in the soil. As long as it's workable and your soil Temperature is between 45 and 55, you can plant spinach seed. Right now you're going to get a lot of greens coming up in about two weeks and you'll have harvest over the next month or two. Only if it's not too, too cold where you live yet. If it is colder, you might need to put a frost cloth on top. You could even put some plastic on top if it really drops down. But spinach can hang on when the weather drops, when the temperatures drop. All right, next we're going to move on to some root crops that you can grow. So even though the soil has gotten a little bit cooler and there are root crops that thrive in that temperature and the first is going to be carrots. So you want to try to grow some of the carrots that have a shorter duration where they don't need as much time in the garden. We're not talking about growing huge giant carrots right now, okay? We're talking about growing tiny little carrots like this variety, the Danvers variety. So you can plant your seeds right now, keep them well watered, and you're going to start to have sprouts come up in about 10 to 14 days and and then you should have your first harvest within 60 days of planting. The other root crop to grow are beets. Beets also do not mind the cold temperatures. In fact, they love them. They love it when the temps in the soils are in the 40s-50s. So put some seeds in right now, keep them well spaced so there's plenty of room between each beet seed. I like to use about four fingers to divide mine. Same thing goes with spinach and carrots. You'll get some right now and then the seeds that don't germinate, you'll likely get beets from in the new year. Next, our cabbages. So cabbages are a slower growing green. I like to put the seeds in now maybe to get some early leafy greens, keep them covered throughout the middle of the winter and then start to get big cabbages growing as soon as the soil starts to warm up in the early spring. These plants just prolifically produce leaves. So you'll have all kinds of cabbage leaves that you can make wraps and soups. I just love cabbage for winter, and I know you are too. Now, bonus plant to put in the garden in November, even after you've had frost, is cilantro seed. Listen, do not let me catch you buying any cilantro at Lowe's or Home Depot or any big box store in the middle of July when they put it out right next to the tomatoes because they think they're going to fool you in to growing it so you can have salsa, okay? Cilantro doesn't like the hot weather. It hates July. It hates the middle of the summer. It loves the winter. So if you put cilantro seeds in your garden right now, you may get a first harvest of some cilantro early this season. But any of the cilantro that does not sprout, you're going to get tons of cilantro. And I'm talking tons in the early spring because cilantro loves that early spring weather. It'll have the frost and the snow to keep it watered. And then you're going to have this luscious cilantro growing at the beginning of the spring. You're just going to love this when you get cilantro in March and April because you put it in the garden right now. So that's for number one. Now let's cover number two. Before I tell you about group number two, I got to tell you about the Easy Garden Kit. It has got 10 sets of seeds, video tutorials, planting plans, growing guides and recipes, plus an incredible side tutorial on how to build a raised bed. All included inside the Easy Garden Kit. So if you're just getting started gardening or you just want to make gardening easy, or just want to have 10 awesome seeds that you can grow in November and check out the link right below this video and we'll send them to your doorstep. So if you're number two, then you're in a milder climate, meaning winter is coming much slower to your garden and you may actually never have a cold season in your garden. So congrats to you and listen up. You better make the most of it. Okay, so any leafy green is something you want to be planting right now. We're talking spring mix. Arugula and this gorgeous butter head is perfect to plant right now. Keep it well watered in November. It's going to love those cool, cooler temperatures that you've been waiting on. And then you're going to have gorgeous heads to harvest in December, January, February. You're going to be feeding everybody on your block fresh lettuce from the garden. Next up, you should definitely grow these herbs, dill and parsley. These herbs like it when it's cool. So put these seeds in your garden right now and you're going to have herbs all winter long, fresh herbs that add so much flavor to all those fall and winter dishes. Parsley and dill there where it's at. So put the seeds in the garden right now and you'll have gorgeous herbs to harvest before the end of the year. But to get an even faster harvest, you want to try out some root crops. And the fastest root crop you can grow right now are radishes. You should try out all kinds of different varieties. My favorite are the French breakfast and also the watermelon radishes. Oh, my goodness. They're like this big and so much sweeter. So try out a lot of different radishes because you've got time, my friend. You've got months to grow radishes, and you'll get a harvest within 30 days from planting. Last but not least, you've got time in group number two to grow some fruit in your garden this winter. What? I know we're not talking watermelons here, though, okay? We're talking peas and beans, sugar snap peas, snow peas, and fava beans. Those are the kinds of fruit that grow in the winter. You can put the seeds along a trellis anywhere in your garden. Try to pick the sunniest spot, though. These seeds are going to take about 60 to 75 days before you get your first harvest, and you're going to have loads of peas coming from every single seed that you plant. This is a way to get, like, hardier harvests in the middle of the winter from your garden. And since you're in a warmer place, you should definitely take advantage. Grow this yourself so you don't have to buy it from the grocery. If you're ever watching these planning videos and you're thinking, how does she always know what to plant next month? Well, that's because I created a system on how to plan out my garden over the entire year. I use it when I garden in a hot place. I cold place. And I still use it now here in Nashville. So I made a whole video on how you can make your own garden planner, too. And you can watch the full tutorial right here.
