What I’m Growing in my Zone 5 Garden in 2021

I get really excited about vegetable varieties. Every year I add some new ones to my collection. If I like them I’ll save seeds from them to replant next year. Some of these varieties have been growing in my zone 5 garden since I moved here. 

Each year I participate in seed swaps to add fun new things to my collection. (For more information about how to use Seed Swaps, check out my post here)

 

My Zone 5 Garden 2021

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This year, I am working together with my sisters-in-law to plant two separate gardens that our families will share.

The varieties in bold are my tried and true vegetables that will get extra space in my zone 5 garden. Varieties not in bold are either new ones I am trying, or are marginal in our climate so won’t get a lot of garden space. Some are just vegetables we don’t eat a lot of.

My current garden is very limited on water (we don’t get much rain and our well sometimes goes dry). It has a lot of grass competition from the neighbors’ pasture, so we rely heavily on different kinds of mulch. It’s also in a cold pocket where we typically have less than 100 days between frosts. Last year we only had 80 days between hard freezes! The other garden space we are planting this year is mostly raised beds, with a more ample water supply. It also has a slightly longer season, even though it’s less than a mile away.

Not sure what garden zone you are in? Use the USDA zone finder here.

 

Root Crops

I dedicate a lot of space to root crops since they can store all winter long. Root crops do great in a zone 5 garden! I sometimes plant turnips but am probably going to skip them this year since they aren’t our favorite and we will be somewhat limited on space.

 

Beets

• Chiogga
• Cylindra
• Heirloom Yellow Mangel
• Albino

 

Carrots

• Black Nebula
• Cosmic Purple
• Nantes
• Danvers
• Lunar White

 

Radishes

• De 18 Jours
• Spring Radish Mix
• Black Spanish (winter storage radish)

 

Parsnips

• Harris Model

 

Potatoes

Potatoes are always a priority for us. They always produce, even in a poor season. They are resistant to rabbits and deer. And they will last many months stored at room temperature in a dark place. Everyone enjoys them and they can be prepared in a variety of ways. Potatoes will produce in most climates, including a zone 5 garden.

 

• Huckleberry Gold
• Yukon Gold
• Russet
• Red (unknown variety I’ve had for a few years)
• Purple (unknown variety I found locally a few years ago)

 

Sweet Potato

These are really marginal in our zone 5 garden, so I don’t dedicate much space to them. I’ve had the best luck with growing them in containers so I can bring them in the greenhouse or even in the house when it gets too cold.

• White (unknown variety I grew last year)
• Myanmar Purple

 

Onions

• Red Wethersfield (one of the best red storage types)
• Yellow Spanish
• New York Early (yellow)
• Red of Florence (fresh eating type)
• Evergreen Bunching Onion (green onion)

 

Tomatoes for Zone 5

I grow about 50% sauce tomatoes, and most of those are San Marzano. I plant smaller quantities of slicing and cherry tomatoes. And yes, I know I am a little carried away with the number of tomato varieties on this list. There are just so many exciting heirlooms available! 

Some years our tomatoes don’t get a chance to ripen on the vine, like last summer when we only had 80 days between hard freezes in our zone 5 garden. We simply pick them green before the first frost in fall and bring them inside to ripen (check out my blog post on how to ripen green tomatoes indoors). The San Marzanos especially ripen well this way.

 

• San Marzano Paste
• Purple Russian Paste
• Black Brandywine (slicing)
• Pink Brandywine (slicing)
• Striped Brandywine (slicing)
• Kelloggs Breakfast (slicing)
• Costoluto Genovese (slicing or sauce)
• Golden King of Siberia (slicing)

  

• Black Beauty (slicing)
• Great White (slicing)
• Dr. Wyches Yellow (slicing)
• Silvery Fir Tree (early red slicer)
• Black Krim (slicing)
• Pink Berkeley Tie Dye (slicing)
• Violet Jasper (salad)
• Gardeners Delight (red cherry)
• Gold Nugget (yellow cherry
• Green Grape (green cherry)
• Black Cherry
• Rainbow Cherry (mix from Botanical Interests)
• Tiny Tim (miniature cherry tomato perfect for container gardening!)
• Principe Borghese (small salad or sun drying tomato)

 

Tomato Relatives

• Litchi Berry
• Chichiquelite Berry (find out more about these here)
• Purple Tomatillo
• Queen of Malinalco Tomatillo

 

Peppers for our Zone 5 Garden

I will be mostly planting mini bell pepper mix this year since they do so well in our short zone 5 garden season. You can find the seeds for this multi-colored heirloom at Baker Creek.

 

• Bulgarian Carrot (hot for cayenne pepper and hot sauce)
• Nadapeno (non-spicy jalapeno for salsa)
• Czech Black (hot for salsa )
• Brazilian Starfish (hot for salsa)
• Sugar Rush Peach (hot for hot sauce and salsa)
• Cayenne (hot for cayenne pepper)
• Ancho (mildly hot for salsa)
• Heirloom Mini Bell Pepper Mix (sweet)
• Zulu Bell Pepper (black sweet pepper)
• Violet Sparkle Sweet Pepper
• Corbachi Sweet Pepper
• Marconi Sweet Pepper
• Beuna Mulata (hot pepper)

  

• Jimmy Nardello Italian FryingPepper (sweet)
• Long Red Sweet Pepper
• Amish Pimento (sweet)
• Leutschauer Paprika Pepper (sweet)
• Orange Bell Pepper (sweet)

 

Squash Varieties for Zone 5

Squash is another area where I tend to get a little carried away. I can’t say no to all the fun heirlooms available! The best performing winter squash we have found for zone 5 gardens is Lady Godiva hulless pumpkin. It has outperformed all of our other varieties three years in a row.

 

• Costata Romanesco Zucchini
• Saffron Yellow Summer Squash
• Patisson Strie Melange Summer Squash
• Bennings Green Tint Patty Pan (summer squash)
• Black Beauty Zucchini
• Lady Godiva (winter) (Great for growing Pumpkin Seeds)

  

• B’Root Buttercup (winter)
• Jarrahdale (winter)
• Amish Pie Squash (winter)
• Sweet Meat – Oregon Homestead (winter)
• Red Kuri (winter)
• Tahitan Melon Squash (winter)
• Baby Pam Pie Pumpkin (winter)
• Striped Acorn (winter)
• Waltham Butternut (winter)
• Big Max (giant pumpkin)
• Gete Okosomin (winter)
• Galeux D’Eysines (winter)
• Iran (winter)
• Illinois Cushaw (winter)
• Sibley (winter)
• Winter Luxury Pie Pumpkin (winter)
• Hubbard Squash (winter)
• Rouge Vif d Entempanes (Cinderella Pumpkin)

 

Melons for Zone 5

Many of these varieties are iffy in our short season. The most dependable for me have been Blacktail Mountain Watermelon, Cream of Saskatchewan Watermelon and Jenny Lind Muskmelon. The others I grow will set fruit in a good year, but won’t have enough time in a bad year. The hardest part of growing melons in a zone 5 garden is getting them to actually ripen. Season extenders can be a big help!

 

• Blacktail Mountain Watermelon
• Cream of Saskatchewan Watermelon
• Royal Golden Watermelon
• Moon and Stars Watermelon
• Golden Midget Watermelon
• Sugar Baby Watermelon
• Jenny Lind Muskmelon
• Bidwell Casaba Cantaloupe
• Hales Cantaloupe
• Kajari Melon
• Delice Di La Table Melon

 

Cucumbers

• Suyo Long Cucumber (salad)
• Lemon Cucumber (salad)
• Pickling Cucumber (mixed varieties including Delikatesse and Marketmore)

 

Salad Greens for Zone 5

Salad greens are pretty easy for zone 5 gardens, since they grow well in cooler weather. Wild Garden Siberian kale is the most cold hardy green we have found. In zone 5, lettuce can be planted in September and covered with plastic for the winter. In early spring it will begin growing again for a March harvest.

 

Kale

• Wild Garden Siberian Kale Mix
• Walking Stick
• Scarlet

Lettuce

• Forellenschuss Romaine
• Winter Density Romaine
• Crisp Mint Romaine
• Gulley’s Favorite Butterhead
• Tango Looseleaf
• Parris Island Co (romaine)
• Butter King (small butterhead)
• Lollo Rossa Looseleaf

 

Spinach 

• Giant Winter
• Red Orach (Mountain Spinach)

 

Other Salad Greens

• Japanese Giant Red Mustard
• Ben Houshi Mizuna

 

Corn for Zone 5

While Painted Mountain is by far the easiest corn to grow in my area, I’m probably going to skip it this year due to space restrictions. We’re still growing some sweet corn and popcorn.

 

• Orchard Baby (sweet corn)
• Double Standard (sweet corn)
• Dakota Black (popcorn)

 

Peas and Beans

Peas do very well with our cool zone 5 garden nights , so always get lots of space in our garden. Unless we get a heat wave, they can be grown the entire summer. Beans are harder because they are so frost sensitive. Some years our entire planting gets wiped out by a June frost.

 

Peas

• Carouby di Maussane Snow Pea
• Sugarsnap Snow Pea
• Purple Podded Snow Pea
• Field Pea (fresh shelling pea or dried pea)

 

Beans

• Dragon’s Tongue (Bush)
• Black valentine (Bush)
• Jacobs Cattle (Bush)
• Rattlesnake (Pole)
• Kentucky Wonder (Pole)
• Leonardi (local heirloom pole bean that has been in my friend’s family for years!)
• Heirloom Pole Bean Mix
• Marvel of Venice (Pole Bean)

 

Cabbage Family

The cabbage family has really been a challenge in my current zone 5 garden, with the exception of kale. There is something about my soil that it just doesn’t like and it’s a lot of work just to get the plants to grow. We also have a lot of pest problems. For this reason, I am not giving this plant group a lot of space this year, with the exception of cabbage. This year, I’m also omitting broccoli and Brussels sprouts since they aren’t my family’s favorite anyway. (Fall update: our cabbage family plants did fantastic this year, and we even got some 10lb cabbages! I guess our soil improvements are working!)

 

Kohlrabi

• Purple (unknown variety, possibly Purple of Vienna?)
• Superschmelz (giant green kohlrabi)

 

Cabbage

• Brunswick (average size green cabbage good for storage, so far the best performer in my garden!)
• Late Flat Dutch (giant storage cabbage)
• Des Vertes Savoy (green)

 

Cauliflower

• Purple of Sicily
• Romanesco di Italia

 

Celery for Zone 5

Afina cutting celery also does great in our area, but I prefer growing a full-size celery to have both the leafy tops for soup and the wider, milder stalks at the bottom. Celery does surprisingly well in my low-water garden and I always get a good crop! Celery is a great choice for zone 5 gardens!

 

• Redventure

Leeks for Zone 5

Leeks are another crop that is really dependable in our climate. They grow much better than onions and are still usable out in the garden well into winter.

• King Sieg

 

I’m sure I’ve missed a few things on this list! I omitted flowers and herbs since that would make this list too long! 

Share in the comments what garden zone you are in and which vegetable varieties do best in your area!