18 Cold Hardy Vegetables That Can Survive 20F DEGREE Hard Freezes

We just received back-to-back 22°F (-5.6°C) hard freezes, which tested the limits of the cold crops I am growing in my winter garden. I woke up at sunrise to conduct a plant tour of all 18 cold hardy vegetables that I am growing in my Zone 8 garden while all plants were still frozen solid. All winter vegetables were left unprotected and fully exposed to the hard freeze.

I then waited for all plants to thaw and conducted another garden tour just before sunset, because sometimes it takes awhile for freeze damage to show. The cold hardy plants shown in this video easily survived the 20F degree hard freeze, with only a handful showing very minor damage that the winter hardy vegetables will quickly recover from. They are all excellent vegetables to grow when gardening in winter.

TABLE OF CONTENTS
0:00 Garden Tour Of Frozen Plants
0:42 Kale
2:04 Carrots
2:51 Beets
3:56 Cabbage
4:30 Lettuce
5:19 Broccoli
6:08 Spinach
6:50 Rapini (Broccoli Rabe)
8:00 Swiss Chard
9:17 Herbs: Cilantro, Dill, Parsley, Thyme, Rosemary, Oregano
10:40 Garlic, Onions, Shallots
11:26 Late Afternoon Garden Tour To Check For Freeze Damage

If you have any questions about winter gardening, zone 8 gardening, the frost tolerant vegetables shown in this video, any of the other things I am growing in my garden, are looking for any garden tips and tricks, or have questions about vegetable gardening in general, please ask in the Comments below!

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ABOUT MY GARDEN
Location: Southeastern NC, Brunswick County (Wilmington area)
34.1°N Latitude
Zone 8A

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[TrehanCreekOutdoors]

A very nice looking garden, Sir! This video was extremely interesting because it gave an early morning and late afternoon perspective on the various plants. Very helpful to see how much recovery and damage ensued to the plants after a hard freeze and while being unprotected. I'm located in Jackson, Mississippi, Zone 8(b) so our conditions are pretty similar to yours but likely a few less harsh winter days.

It's December 14 here today and I planted some "Bayou Kale" a variety that grows well in the Deep South. Incredible as it may seem, it was 70 degrees here today and with a rain on the way tonight, this kale should readily germinate and grow just fine. It may seem counterproductive to PLANT anything unprotected in December but there are indeed many crops which are edible and tasty that will grow essentially all winter long unless an EXTREMELY harsh period of weather arrives.

I also urge gardeners to investigate growing native edible plants that will take the cold. Sow thistle is a favorite plant that I grow. It THRIVES in the winter months, normally developing its leaf structure in late fall and growing all winter long. No cold we have ever had here seems to affect this plant beyond slowing its growth a bit. Being essentially a WEED it is a perennial and seems to be immune to everything, including pests. I use it as a substitute for lettuce in the winter. Great on sandwiches or mixed into a salad.

Another native plant, which is also an edible weed, are the various varieties of wild lettuce. The Lactuca genus contains several varieties of this plant. It is a little stronger tasting plant to me than the sow thistle but they will grow well as companion plants. It has the same winter growing habit as sow thistle. In the spring, both plants will grow several feet tall. I cut them back to ground level BEFORE they go to seed. Don't worry, the roots will regenerate and grow back during the next winter.

Another edible plant that grows wild or cultivated by gardeners is the chicory plant. I usually grow a variety known as "Six Point" in my deer food plots. And I plant some in my garden too. Some seed sources also sell other gardening varieties of chicory. It needs to be planted in the early fall and will grow all winter as it has a deep tap root. The leaves can be put in any salad or used in other ways. The taste is a little bitter so it helps to mix it with other salad greens. All of these, and more, wild native plants are very edible. The benefit of these "edible weeds" is that they can withstand nearly any conditions mother nature throws at them and never be killed. Basically, only a severe drought will stop these plants and even that has to last for a very long period of time to do any damage.

Wild garlic also grows everywhere in the Deep South. It will emerge from underground bulbs during the winter months, typically in January here. Cold does NOTHING to this plant. It keeps pushing upwards and growing in January and February. If planted in a garden, be aware this plant will spread and is an invasive edible weed. So keep in a contained growing space! If readers wonder what you can do with wild garlic, I have a video in my channel's cooking section where I show how to make a Wild Garlic and Smilax (another wild edible plant) omelet. VERY tasty! From a gardening perspective, once you plant bulbs of wild garlic there is absolutely NOTHING you have to do until you are ready to harvest some shoots or bulbs. The bulbs will be very small but they are potent so you will get plenty of garlic flavor.

If it sounds crazy to grow and eat weeds, keep in mind that weeds grow incredibly well, as every gardener already knows. Anyone can grow a weed! Weeds, of course, always seem to survive any conditions without much damage. Part of the fun of gardening is being able to have edible plants in the garden all year long. Plants like dandelion weeds and other native edible plants can give you FOOD with little work or cost. Give some of them a try.

[donnarose]

Those beet tops are the best greens you can eat. Yummy

[KatBurnsKASHKA]

-5 seems like a warm day over here! thanks for the video :)

[joestropicals]

Wow! You’ve got it pretty cold 🥶 great to see what veggies will hold up to those temps. Thanks for another informative video 🙌🏽🧑‍🌾

[cypherknot]

22°F, in Montana we laugh at 22°F. We get hard freezes of --22°F and colder. I grew a flat leaf kale that froze and then thawed again many times. Right now I have giant red celery that has been unprotected and is still alive with new shoots at the base of the plants. That is some tough celery. Oh, and pansies. I germinated some white pansies from seed and right now they are growing, producing blooms as if it is summer. It is remarkable. The Chinese and Japanese greens are covered and still alive but not growing. I live in a zone 4.

I have had thyme and oregano growing outside two winters now. I do cover them for winter. I put in hard neck garlic for the first time yester October.

I have some of vegetables on my garden in winter too and they are great cold hardy

[yolandastephens]

I have both German and English thyme and they are both still growing, taking over my little garden .

[virginiaallisonpeck]

I’m surprised at these plants. Thanks so much for the information ❤

[nmnate]

Johnny's has some amazing cold hardy greens. We've tried several lettuce / kale / collard / spinach varieties that germinate in February for us (teens under light frost covering in case it gets colder here in 6b) and don't care at all about the temps into early spring. The plants obviously grow fairly slow that cold, but you can get a nice head start (before the bugs sometimes).

[compiticny]

broccoli robe is a great green (Italian family) and while used on sandwiches we use it as an ingredient in pesto for where we want something different in a recipe.

[emilygardner]

So helpful to know about the dill. I recently learned how resilient cilantro is too. I have some that has survived, uncovered all winter so far. I regret pulling both out! 7b georgia

[maryannditullio]

Great info! I think I might try some next year!

[stanleyjones]

Thanks for sharing about your mandarin oranges and pineapple java I am in zone 8a here Ga.

[michaell]

A belated thank you for your video! I'm here in the deep south about to experience 23 degrees. Based on your findings, I plan to not harvest my small cabbages as I would like them to grow for New Year cabbage and beyond!

[monicagagne]

Thank you for your video I’m new to zone 7 in north west SC. I planted red leaf lettuce, cauliflower and broccoli in my raised beds for the first time we had 28 degrees last night, when the sun comes up I’ll go out to check & see how they’re doing. Is cauliflower cold hardy as well, you didn’t mention it.

[parrotsandmore]

If you get a freeze, just get a spray bottle of water and spray the plant before the sun hits it. It’s not the freeze that kills it, it is the dramatic weather change when the sun hits it. So the water will soften the leaves so they are not frozen when the sun hits

[archstanton]

I have Russian kale, Dwarf Curly kale, Fordhook chard, Chinese broccoli, and baby bok Chou growing in pots. Ive been covering them at night with a giant cardboard box from a sofa we bought. I also have a couple of Shishito peppers that I’ve covered as well. Will beets and carrots germinate outside during the winter or do you have to start them indoors? What about growing radishes during winter? It’s gotten down to 27 here. Thanks for posting another informative video!

[kathycook]

Loved the video VERY much. Such a great indication of my zone 8b which I am 60 miles north of the Gulf of Mexico. This winter, so far, has been Grand Solar Minimum kicking Through the night snow is predicted as a dusting. Quite unusual. Thanks so much for your super informative videos - keep em comin!

[shashakeeleh]

I love Fall & Winter gardens the best, except for figs...

[junnielaine]

Very helpful. Thanks for a great video, we also are in zone 8 and have cabbages and broccoli and cauliflower, I was wondering if they continue to grow as we are getting in to the low 50# some days, my heads are small especially cauliflower but hope they grow bigger