What to start in the edible September garden

Fall seedlings in an Italian garden

Saturday, September 7, 2024 

September is a great time to continue planting for fall and winter harvests.  Get the most out of your edible garden by using all the seasons for fresh, homegrown goodness.  With fall gardening, you don't have to worry about pest and disease pressures plus the temperatures are enjoyable for outdoor activity.

What is a four season garden?
You can garden year round in small space
Planning for a four season garden

A fall edible garden

This month plant more greens and root vegetables.  September is my favorite month for getting winter lettuce and greens going.  I keep pots just for year round greens.  The spring/summer greens have already bolted and gone to seed.  I cleared them out when the seeds are dispersed and the stalks turn brown.  I have volunteer celery, amaranth greens, and sweet mustard greens that has sprouted in some of them.  Plus the Red Malabar spinach, New Zealand spinach and Giant Blue Feather lettuce is still going strong.  I need to start my lettuce seeds this week.  After sprouting, I'll transplant them together in self watering pots so that I can cover them with a portable greenhouse to keep the harvest going all fall and winter.

Time to plant lettuce seed for fall, winter salads

 Root for fall!  

September is also a great month for starting perennial veggies, fruits, and herbs as well as flowers, trees, shrubs and spring blooming bulbs.  There are 2 great things about perennials.  1) You only have to plant them once and they come back year after year.  2)  Perennial greens are the first things up in late winter, early spring.   Midwest Perennial Vegetable Garden

The hardest part is finding a spot to start the cool season crops with so many summer veggies going strong.  I like to start them in smaller self-watering, rectangular pots that are about 6" tall by 12" or so long in the shade and then transplant them out when it gets cooler and more room is opened up.  

Here are the crops you can start in the September Midwest edible garden:

September
Austrian winter peas
Arugula
Beets

Broccoli transplants
Brussel sprouts transplants

Cabbage transplants

Carrots
Cauliflower transplants
Corn salad
Escarole

Fava beans
Frisee
Italian dandelion

Kale

Kohlrabi
Lettuce
Mache
Mustard and Mustard Greens

Winter and Perennial Onions

Peas

Radish

Scallions

Snow peas
Sorrel
Spinach

Turnips

November edible garden

Look for cold hardy varieties when planting for fall and winter harvests.  You will be surprised to harvest all through the winter months things like greens, onions, Austrian peas, carrots, and cabbage without any cover.  You can also extend the harvest by looking for the same crop with different days to harvest timing so that they mature at different times.  

Finally, you can use cover to extend the harvest all the way to next spring.

  Extend the season with protection for plants
Winter edible garden

When planting seeds when temperatures can get hot, be sure to keep the soil moist and in a cool spot until the plants are well established.  Summer and fall planted crops take longer to come to harvest than they do in the spring.  Rule of thumb is to add 2 weeks.  It's because the days are getting shorter in fall rather than longer like in spring.  

A great and easy way to start your fall garden is to sow the seeds in a pot on a covered deck or patio.  This makes it easy to keep an eye on the seedlings and protects them from the harsh hot summer sun.  After they have a couple of sets of their true leaves, you can transplant into the garden bed.  Harden them off first by moving the pot to full sun before transplanting.  "Hardening off" seedlings  After transplanting into the garden, keep them watered regularly during hot, dry weather until well established.

For more summer seed starting tips Outdoor seed starting tips