How to Pre-Seed the Garden in Fall for an Early Harvest

How to Pre-Seed your Garden in Fall for an Early Spring Harvest

I am the kind of gardener who tends to get overexcited and take on too much, and then I become overwhelmed when there is just too much to do! Does this sound like you?

I am therefore always on the lookout for easier ways to do things.

So when I learned that I could start seeds in the fall to get a head start on the next season, I was all in!

Pre-seeding is a simple method to get a jump-start on a bigger, better garden next season.

We link to vendors to help you find relevant products. If you buy from one of our links, we may earn a commission.

With just a few minutes of extra work during autumn, you will be rewarded next spring with better germination rates, earlier sprouts, and healthier, more robust plants.

Read on to learn how to pre-seed your vegetable garden in the fall for an early harvest the following spring.

Pre-seeding simply refers to planting seeds in late fall or early winter, in preparation for next spring’s garden.

In nature, when seeds from a plant land on the surrounding soil, they often do not sprout right away.

Instead, they may remain dormant through the winter, waiting to sprout as soon as the temperatures warm up in the spring.

Some seeds require or can benefit from cold stratification to germinate, meaning they are naturally triggered to sprout by a period of freezing followed by a spring thaw.

There are certain plants we tend to always plant in advance, such as garlic or spring bulbs. But as it turns out, these are not the only plants that can be sown ahead of time.

Many edible crops and even flowers may be pre-seeded, and in fact, most tend to do quite well.

Pre-seeding works best in colder climates where