Zone 10 - What to Plant in October

Zone 10 - What to Plant in October

The dog days of summer have finally passed in zone 10 and we can start growing some crops in the garden. The typical first frost in Zone 10 is mid-late December but even then it can be very mild. This allows for easy winter growing of several crops. Below is a list of items that can be planted in zone 10 in October.

The rainbow mix is a blend of our favorite bright heirloom carrots!  Mix of every imaginable carrot color, purple, red, white, even some orange. Purple has smooth skin, coreless orange flesh and is sweet and tasty. Yellow holds its sunny hue inside and out, is crunchy, sweet and juicy. White is mild and delicious, and Red has high lycopene levels as well as a crispy texture that is great cooked. Enjoy these delicious carrots cooked or raw.

Blue Vantage produces dense and large heads with short cores. A mid-season maturity that is ideal for fresh eating or coleslaw. Great resistance to Fusarium yellows race 1 resistant and tipburn tolerant.

Green Magic is a great summer and fall broccoli that is consistent performer. This broccoli matures mid-early and has wide adaptability to gardening zones. It has a semi-domed, tight head with medium-small bead size and a good plant habit.

Red Malabar spinach (Basella rubra) is a heat-loving, vining green that thrives through the hottest days of summer when traditional greens fade. This vigorous Asian vine features glossy, thick, slightly savoyed dark green leaves set against striking deep red to purple stems, making it as ornamental as it is edible. The mild, chard-like flavor works well when young leaves and tender stems are used fresh in salads, blended into smoothies, or lightly cooked in stir-fries. Exceptionally tolerant of heat and humidity, it produces an abundance of nutritious greens well into fall, along with deep purple berries rich in anthocyanins that can be used as a natural dye. Not a true spinach, this beautiful plant is typically grown as an annual in cooler regions and as a perennial in subtropical climates, but it is not frost hardy.

Freckles Lettuce gets its name for being an unusual bright green romaine lettuce with crimson freckles! This uniquely colored lettuce is sun-loving and grows upright. This variety has a crisp texture that can be harvested early or late!

Georgia Southern is a large collard plant with a cabbage-like taste! This variety produces bluish-green leaves that can grow up to 36" tall and do not bunch or head like cabbage leaves. These large open heads are great for cooking or freezing. The Georgia Southern collard is vitamin rich, sweet, not bitter, heat tolerant, and frost hardy.

The Black Seeded Simpson Lettuce is a very early and dependable lettuce. This large upright, compact leaf-type lettuce produces delicious light green, wide, curled leaves. The Black Seeded Simpson is a productive variety!

Butter King Lettuce is slow to bolt or turn bitter. This varieties' light-green crisp 12-13 oz. butterheads do well in Midwest heat. The Butter King is a Boston type, but it is nearly twice as large and more tender. This lettuce grows vigorously with a good flavor and is disease resistant.

The Green Sprouting Calabrese produces large dark green heads bursting with flavor. This broccoli with is a favorite, that now is available as organic seed! Good in short season areas with cool nights. It will produce many lateral or side shoots over a long season. It is slow bolting with a flavor that can't be beat.

The Patio Pride Pea is the perfect variety for a container or small garden and it looks stunning among other ornamental combinations. This pea plant produces uniform, sugary sweet pods that are tender when harvested early. This variety is perfect for succession planting, as it yields a consistent harvest over many weeks. You can grow Patio Pride with other cool-season flowers for a gorgeous display right on your patio! Certified Organic. Learn more about our organic seeds.

Late Flat Dutch cabbage seeds produce one of the oldest and most reliable heirloom cabbage varieties, first introduced to American gardens in the mid-1800s and prized for its large, flat, broad heads. This late-season type matures slowly, typically in 100–110 days, forming dense, firm heads that can weigh 10–15 pounds, making it excellent for gardeners seeking high yields and long storage. Its flavor is mild, sweet, and crisp, improving after light frost exposure, which enhances its natural sugars. Historically valued for sauerkraut production, it remains a top choice for fermentation, coleslaw, boiling, and traditional cooking, while its long shelf life makes it a staple for winter kitchens and homestead food preservation.

Great field cabbage performance. A rugged hybrid that produces well in Southern winters and Northern summers. Produces large, blue-green heads with cream colored inside. Uniform cabbage that works great for markets.

The Bistro Blend is a component mixture of loose leaf lettuce and batavian varieties. All the varieties in this blend have been selected for sweet flavor and thick leaves that stand up well in a rough chopped salad. This blend's colors range from red, bronze, dark green and bright green. This Bistro Blend is a garden favorite with production all year long.

Red Grano onion seeds produce a classic short-day variety that originated in the early 20th century from the famous Grano strain developed in Texas. Known for their medium to large, globe-shaped bulbs with rose-red skin and white, mildly flavored flesh, Red Grano onions are prized for both fresh use and short-term storage. They thrive in regions with mild winters and are best sown in late fall or early spring, preferring full sun and loose, well-drained soil. With a growing period of about 100–120 days, these onions mature into tender, juicy bulbs that add a sweet yet slightly sharp flavor to salads, sandwiches, and salsas.

Alaska pea seeds grow into one of the oldest and earliest-maturing pea varieties, first introduced in the late 1800s and valued for its ability to thrive in cool northern climates. This hardy shelling pea produces compact, vining plants that yield an abundance of small, smooth, bright green pods filled with sweet, tender peas in just about 55 days, making it a favorite for short-season gardeners. The plants are relatively easy to grow, preferring well-drained soil and cool weather, and they often set pods before summer heat diminishes yields. With a mild, slightly starchy sweetness, Alaska peas are excellent for fresh eating, freezing, or canning, and have long been popular in soups and stews due to their ability to hold flavor and texture after cooking. Their dependable growth and versatile use have kept them a staple in gardens for well over a century.

The fine smooth texture of the Nantes carrot makes it perfect for fresh eating, freezing or juicing! This bright orange carrot is a garden favorite. Nantes has an excellent sweet flavor as an early baby carrot. It can be over-wintered or grown in high tunnels for a spring harvest. Certified Organic. Learn more about our organic seeds.

The Premier Kale, or also known as Early Hanover, is a high yielding kale with delicious and nutritious green leaves. This kale is early maturing that produces high amounts of smooth, dark green leaves. Plant Premier in the fall so that it produces higher yields and resists bolting 4 weeks longer. This kale's taste is a favorite and is extremely high in antioxidants and beta carotene!

The Fancy Nantes carrot gets its name for its very smooth skin and fancy cylindrical shape. These carrots can grow up to 8" long with a very sweet and crisp flesh. For smaller, "fancier" look and great flavor try harvesting at 45-50 days when 4" long! They can store for months and also do great being left in the ground over winter.