Everything I Sow in August
Fellow starters: the end is near. Like you, I’m looking forward to putting away the seed trays, heat mats and seed domes for the long winter’s nap and reclaiming my office shelves. It’s been a long season. However, we still have to go through another difficult task, consisting of three parts.
Autumn crops
This is your last chance to grow fall crops from seed because they really should be harvested by mid-September at the latest. I’m always amazed by the incredibly long list of things you can grow in the fall and winter and how busy a garden can look.
Peas
I feel like I just picked off the summer peas, but it’s time to give fall another try. I focus less on tall vine peas and more on short bush peas in the fall because the timing is shorter.
Broccoli and cauliflower
The best advice I can give for growing these plants in the fall garden is variety. You don’t need 20 heads of broccoli at once – you need it over a long period. To do this, choose different varieties and focus on the types of re-sprouting. When it comes to cauliflower, you’re missing the boat if you don’t grow all the colors possible – orange, white, lime and purple. Fill your garden with color.
Cabbage
People aren’t crazy about cabbage, and I think it’s because we think of cabbage as a tasteless, pale green blob. No! Purple cabbage is crisp and flavorful, delicious raw but impressive when simmered with salt, sugar and a little acid until glossy. Look for tapered types like Caraflex for easier growth and a more petite head. As with broccoli, make sure you choose different varieties and be sure to add savoy to the mix. These giant heads are great in the garden and my favorite thing to do is add them to soups or make cabbage rolls.
Roots
I think that, like cabbage, turnips get a raw deal. Instead of thinking about giant, rugged-looking specimens, consider smaller Japanese white turnips, which are sweet and beautiful and require only a light stir-fry or sauté to make the perfect side dish for a stir-fry. I’m happy if I always have beets in my garden that can be pulled out and are easy to hold. I use beet greens and beets separately as the greens are delicious on their own or can be used to color other foods (like gravlax). I plant turnips and beets every few weeks during August to spread out the harvest.
I would plant as many carrots as you have room for. They are difficult to germinate, but who has enough of them? Overwintered carrots are the sweetest, and there is a certain joy in going outside even in winter and picking celery, onions and carrots for indoor cooking.
Greenery
If you like kale, explain why, but also now is the time to plant it. Also chard and spinach that will survive the fall. But don’t give up on lettuce, because there are wonderful varieties that are frost-resistant, and there is still plenty of time to harvest another harvest before the fall. And don’t forget the decorative cabbage .
Onion and garlic
At this time of year, you can purchase onion sets or try growing them from seeds. I plant an abundance of green onion seeds because I always want to be able to pick onions from the garden, and I throw in some onion sets just in case.
Once the garlic seeds and shallot seeds are available, turn the bed over and plant them.
Perennial flowers
Since my seeding stations are free, I use this time in the summer to grow perennial flowers that tend to cost more than annuals at the garden center, such as coneflowers, foxgloves and delphiniums, and perennial salvia and agastache. If I put them in the ground by mid-autumn, they will be in good shape by next spring, and within two years they will be fully grown.
Cover crops
A worthy idea is to give your beds a rest too. Even if it’s just one of your garden beds, plant a crop that will serve a purpose, like beans, which add nitrogen to the soil if you cut them at the right time, or oilseed radishes, which break down the soil. Your local garden center has all kinds of cover crops worth considering. Just let them grow this winter, and then before they bloom and bear fruit in the spring or late winter, cut them down and compost them locally.