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I've been eating keto for more than three years now, and my health has improved dramatically. (To read about why and how I switched to keto for life, check out this post.) And because, when the topic comes up, I don't hesitate to offer guidance on how to do keto correctly (there's a lot of bad advice on the Internet), emphasizing how helpful this way of eating can be for regaining health, I get a lot of questions about keto. One question that keeps popping up lately is how to change the family vegetable garden to reflect a keto diet. And it's true, if you're used to growing lots of corn and watermelon, changing your garden to reflect a keto lifestyle may seem overwhelming. Where do you even start? Let me show you how easy it can be.

1st: What Do You Eat?

The first step to planning a keto garden - or really any vegetable garden - is to make a list of vegetables you eat. And let me point out here that the healthy way to do keto is NOT to eat any vegetable you like, regardless of how many carbs it contains. All carbs, even those from veggies, turn to sugar in your body, which in turn spikes blood sugar. Yes, healthy keto includes vegetables, but it's important to count every carb and to avoid high carb veggies.

With that in mind, here is a list of keto-approved vegetables you may choose to grow in your garden:

Artichoke

Artichoke (not Jerusalem Artichokes)
Asparagus
Bamboo shoots
Bell peppers (green are the lowest carb)
Bok choy
Brussels sprouts
Broccoli
Cabbage (green or Napa; not purple types)
Cauliflower
Cucumber
Celery
Eggplant
Endive
Fennel
Garlic
Hot peppers
Kohlrabi
Leafy Greens (including lettuce, spinach, collards, kale, mustard greens, etc.)
Mushrooms
Okra
Onions (including green onions and chives; yellow onions are lower carb than other types)
Pumpkin
Radishes
Radicchio
Rhubarb
Rutabaga (Swede)
Snow peas (not regular green peas)
Squash (including pumpkin, summer squash and zucchini, and spaghetti squash. Not winter squash.)
Tomatoes
Watercress
Wax beans
Green beans

And any culinary herbs you wish.






Please note that if you're eating keto to reduce inflammation, some (not all) people find that nightshades, which include tomatoes and peppers, cause them a great deal of inflammation. (The same is true for dairy, but that's beyond the scope of this post.)

2nd: Will it Grow?

Once you have a list of preferred vegetables, cross off any that simply don't grow in your climate. For example, I can't grow okra in my area; our temperatures are simply too cool. If you're unsure whether or not you can grow a certain vegetable in your area, first look up your USDA gardening zone here, then consult a seed catalog to see if the vegetable in question is suitable for your zone.
  
3rd: What Season?

Chives, which are in the onion family

Not every vegetable gardener is aware that you can grow food in spring and fall, as well as in summer. But only certain crops do well during those cooler months; they are called "cool-season crops." Many keto-friendly vegetables are cool-season crops, so your next step is to determine which of the vegetables you like to eat fall into that category.

Cool Season Keto Vegetables:

Asparagus
Bok choy
Brussels sprouts
Broccoli
Cabbage
Cauliflower
Celery
Endive
Fennel
Garlic
Leafy Greens
Kohlrabi
Onion
Radishes
Radicchio
Rhubarb
Rutabaga
Snow peas
Some tomatoes (look for varieties grown in cold areas like Russia and Alaska)
Watercress






These vegetables generally don't grow well during summer, tending to bolt (go to seed, which makes the edible part of the plant very bitter) during hot weather. (However, if you live in a cooler climate, they may grow very well spring through fall.)

If you live where summers are hot, and have only ever planted a summer garden, you'll need to start thinking of gardening as both an early spring and fall affair.

Tomatoes

Tips for Newbie Gardeners

If you've never had a vegetable garden before, or have very limited growing skills, here are the vegetables I recommend starting with:

Garlic
Leafy Greens (except spinach, which can be persnickety)
Radishes
Tomatoes

These are all very easy to grow, and with the first three, you can plant the seeds directly in the soil. All of these plants also grow well in containers.

4th: How to Start Cool-Season Seeds

I'm going to assume you know how to grow warm-season vegetables. (If you don't, there's tons of how-to info out there, including posts here on this blog.) But many of you may be unfamiliar with growing vegetables in the cooler months.

Really, most things stay the same. The biggest thing is knowing when to plant. That begins with seedlings.

If you're used to purchasing seedlings from a gardening center, you may find it's difficult to find the plants you need in early spring or fall. You might need to start buying seeds, instead.

The easiest way to start cool-season vegetable seeds is to use the winter sowing method, which you can learn all about here and here.  Winter sowing can take place as early as late December, and seedlings hold well for months, until your garden is ready for planting. I highly recommend this method because it's virtually fool-proof, super simple, cheap, and effective.

Lettuce

If you don't want to winter sow, or you need to start seeds for a fall garden during the summer months, be sure to harden off your seedlings before planting them in the ground. Seedlings started by any method other than winter sowing are too tender to take cold temps easily.

Some keto-friendly vegetables are best direct sown into your garden soil. Of the cool-season crops, these include: garlic (if you plant cloves), onion sets, radishes, snow peas, and squash. Leafy greens also do well when direct sown.

5th: When to Plant

How do you know exactly when to plant cool-season crops? Honestly, planting cool-season crops in spring can be tricky because you don't want temperatures to be too cold...nor do you want them too hot. For best results, I recommend purchasing a soil thermometer.  (In a pinch, you can use a meat thermometer, but it won't be as accurate.) Only a thermometer can tell you when the soil in your garden beds reaches 50 - 70 degrees F. 4-6 inches below the surface of the soil. This is when it's safe to plant cool-season veggies.

However, most cool-season vegetables won't grow much when the soil temp is below 50 degrees F. To help things along, you may wish to use row covers, cloches, cold frames, or (around seedlings) thick layers of mulch to warm the soil.

Green beans (Dragon's Tongue variety)

Fall is an easier time to plant cool-season crops. You'll have to start seeds during August, so be sure to keep the seeds and seedlings in a cool location. I've also successfully held over seedlings after winter sowing them in the winter/early spring by simply keeping them in a cool location until I want to plant them in the fall.

To figure out when to plant in the fall, pay attention to how many days your seed catalog or seed packet says the crop requires to mature and be ready to harvest. Then, count back that many days from your average first frost date. That is your planting date. (To find your average first frost date, click here.) Here's an example:

Let's say I have some radishes that take 22 days to fully mature. Let's also say that in my area the average first frost date is late November. That means that the last time I can safely sow radish seeds is in late September.

Cool-season crops will continue growing in the winter, too, though they will grow very slowly. Most will die after a hard frost, but collards and kale usually survive even snow.






Other Tips

* In addition to getting great veggies that don't bolt, cool-season vegetable gardening has other benefits including less required irrigation, fewer insects to mess with, weeds that grow more slowly, and, of course, adding to the period of time you can grow home-grown food!

Cabbage

* When choosing a garden spot, even for cool-season veggies, choose a location that gets full sun (at least 6 hours a day), doesn't get lots of wind, is not low-lying, and has good drainage. South-facing gardens are ideal, with rows oriented north to south.

* Make sure you have great soil. When growing vegetables during cooler weather, it's especially important that they have all the nutrients they need. While all vegetables will grow more slowly in poor soil, cool-season veg will grow especially slow under these less-than-ideal conditions.

* Raised beds keep the soil a bit warmer than if you plant vegetables directly in the ground. This can extend your growing season by giving you gardens that warm more quickly in the spring and stay warmer longer in the fall.

* To make your cool-season vegetables last longer during the late fall and winter months, consider placing hoops made of greenhouse plastic and PVC over your garden.

* Spring planted cool-season crops may not grow for long. If the weather gets suddenly hot, many will bolt (go to seed). Fall is usually a more productive time to plant cool-season crops, but don't let this discourage you from trying to plant in spring! Much depends upon your area's climate.

Summer squash (pattypan variety)

* Choose cool-seasn varieties with the shortest growing periods. For example, if I have a choice between a vegetable that needs 60 days to mature and a different variety of the same veggie that only needs 30 days to mature, I'm definitely going to choose the 30-day vegetable. Why? For one thing, I'll get more plantings and more food from my garden. As soon as I harvest that 30-dayer, I can plant something else (or more of the same crop) in the same garden location. Also, vegetables that grow more quickly are better insurance against a sudden, early hard frost.

* For more tips on cool-season vegetable gardening, I recommend this .PDF.