September is the beginning of fall, but often the temperatures feel a whole lot like summer. In spite of the heat, this is a great time to start renovating your vegetable garden, and plant with fall and winter in mind. Clean up summer vegetables that have seen better days, and make room for cool season vegetables that can last well into the winter months.
Many garden centers now have vegetable transplants of broccoli, cabbage, kale and Swiss chard. Some varieties are considered ornamental, but you can use edible varieties for double duty. You can also seed lettuce, carrots, spinach, radishes and winter greens now. The key for planting in September is water. Young transplants and seedlings will not bounce back easily if they get too dry.
Broadcast a complete fertilizer to the soil at planting, water well, and add mulch to retain moisture. Fall and early winter harvest will provide high quality, sweeter vegetables. With many fall vegetables the harvest season can be extended with sequential harvesting. If you want to grow vegetables all winter, have protection on hand to cover plants when temperatures fall below 28 degrees. Scout for problems regularly, as insects and diseases have had all season to multiply. The sooner you spot a problem, the less a problem it becomes.
| VEGETABLE | PLANTING TYPE | TOLERANCE |
|---|---|---|
| Beets | Seed-grown. Takes 30-60 days from seeding to harvest, depending on variety and size of mature beets you want. | Fairly cold-tolerant. If leaves get damaged, they often will resprout. |
| Broccoli | Must be started from transplants now. | Will tolerate light frosts. Usually harvested in 6-8 weeks |
| Cabbage | Grown from transplants this late. | Frost-tolerant, but cover if temperatures get lower than 28 degrees. Can harvest in 60-75 days. |
| Carrots | Seed-grown. Opt for small, fruited varieties, as they produce better than the long, tapered varieties. | Frost-tolerant, but cover if temperatures get lower than 28 degrees. Can harvest in 60-75 days. |
| Greens — collard, mustard and turnip | Mostly seed-grown, but some transplants will be available. | From seed, 50-70 days until harvest. Very cold-tolerant. Many will overwinter. |
| Lettuce | Mostly seed-grown. Sometimes transplants are available. | Harvest before a hard frost. Ready in 35-50 days depending on variety. |
| Kale | Seed-grown or transplants. | Extremely cold-tolerant. Ready to harvest within 55-65 days. Flavor enhanced by cool weather. |
| Radishes | Seed-grown. | 25-35 days from seed to harvest. Must harvest before a frost. |
| Spinach | Seed-grown or transplants | 40-50 days from seeding to harvest. Fairly cold-tolerant, but cover if temperatures get below 28 degrees. |
| Swiss Chard | Seed-grown or transplants. Can begin harvest in a month or two, but harvest can be extended well into winter. | Cold-tolerant, but cover if temperatures are get below 28 degrees. If leaves get damaged, they often will resprout |
| Turnips | Seed-grown. Look for varieties like Purple Top White Globe that are root producers, not just grown for greens. | Very cold-tolerant. May die back with low temperatures, but they usually grow back. |