What to Plant in Early Fall

Clean Up—but Not Too Much

By September, some summer plants are usually looking tired. Anything that’s finished producing can come out of the garden, especially plants that are diseased or badly damaged. I also pull weeds and clean up fallen or unhealthy plant material.

But I don’t get carried away. If a tomato plant is still covered with green tomatoes, it stays. The same goes for beans, squash, peppers, or anything else that is still healthy and producing. September isn’t necessarily the end of the summer garden. Sometimes it’s simply the beginning of the transition to the next one. And any newly empty spaces give me somewhere to plant fall seeds.

What Can You Plant in September?

One of the easiest ways to extend the garden season is to choose vegetables that prefer cooler weather and mature relatively quickly. Depending on your growing zone and expected first frost date, early fall can be a good time to direct-sow things like:

• Radishes
• Spinach
• Leaf lettuce and salad greens
• Arugula
• Turnips
• Mustard greens
• Kale and other cool-season greens

Radishes are especially satisfying because many varieties mature quickly. Lettuce and other greens can also give you a harvest without requiring an entire season in the garden. Before planting, I always check the seed packet for the days to maturity and compare that with our approximate first-frost date. Fall gardening is a little different from spring gardening because the days are getting shorter instead of longer, so I don’t like cutting the timing too close.

And because planting dates vary considerably by region, it’s always worth checking with your local Cooperative Extension office for recommendations specific to where you live.

Plant a Little at a Time

You also don’t have to plant an entire packet of seeds at once. For quick crops such as radishes and salad greens, I like the idea of succession planting—sowing a small amount and then planting a little more a week or two later. That can spread out the harvest instead of producing thirty radishes that all need to be eaten on the same Tuesday. Although stranger things happen in my kitchen.

Don’t Forget About Garlic

Garlic is another fall garden favorite, although I don’t plant mine this early. Garlic is generally planted later in the fall and allowed to overwinter before being harvested the following year. So while I’m working in the September garden, I start thinking about where I might want to plant garlic once the weather gets colder. That’s one of the things I love about gardening. Even as one season is ending, you’re already preparing for another.

Let the Summer Garden Finish

Meanwhile, I’m not rushing my late summer vegetables. Because I’ve been traveling almost non-stop since April, my garden got a late start this year. And that’s okay. The beans are producing now. The tomatoes are still ripening, assuming I can keep the local wildlife from eating them first. My squash plants are covered in flowers, the okra is finally pumping out pods, and three pumpkins are slowly growing larger.

Then there are my wildflowers and flowering herbs that have overflowed their beds and pots, but I can’t bring myself to cut them because I love their autumn colors.

So for the next few weeks, my garden will contain a little bit of both seasons. Summer vegetables will keep growing wherever they’re still happy, while radishes, greens, and other cool-weather seeds can begin filling the empty spaces. That’s one of my favorite things about a September garden. It isn’t quite summer anymore. But it isn’t finished, either.

And with a few packets of seeds and a little planning, there may still be plenty left to grow.