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What to Plant at the End of August

Cucumber pollination

It’s the end of August here in Ohio – the nights are cooling off, tomatoes & peppers continue to produce fruit to no end, but you still have the itch to keep planting.

Luckily, there is still a ton of stuff you can plant!

Being in zone 5, our last frost date is approximately mid-October – that means we’ve got about 2 months to get growing! With ~60 days, you won’t have enough time for corn, potatoes, or tomatoes, but there are a few options.

Cold-weather crops

  • Arugula (rocket)
  • Beets
  • Collards
  • Carrots
  • Cauliflower
  • Celery (mild winter climates)
  • Chard
  • Coriander (Cilantro)
  • Fennel
  • Kale
  • Kohlrabi
  • Lettuce
  • Mizuna
  • Mustard greens
  • Onions (bulbing)
  • Onions (bunching–standard onions harvested before they form bulbs).
  • Pak choi (Bok choy)
  • Peas
  • Radishes
  • Spinach

Below is a little more detailed cool-weather crop breakdown I got from Bonnie Plants:

Cool-weather crops are broken into 2 categories – Hardy & Semi-Hardy.

Hardy – can tolerate hard frost of 25-28°F. Collards, Kale, & Spinach can handle low 20s and teens in some cases! The beautiful thing about cool weather crops is that they are more flavorful when grown under these circumstances – you know this first-hand if you’ve ever had Spinach in the garden when temps hit 90-100! Image result for tongue out emoji

  • Broccoli
  • Brussels sprouts
  • Cabbage
  • Collards*
  • English peas
  • Kale
  • Kohlrabi
  • Leeks
  • Mustard greens
  • Parsley
  • Radish
  • Spinach
  • Turnip

Semi-hardy – can tolerate 29-32°F

  • Beets
  • Carrot
  • Cauliflower
  • Celery
  • Chinese cabbage
  • Endive
  • Irish potatoes
  • Lettuce and gourmet salad greens
  • Radicchio
  • Rutabaga
  • Salsify
  • Swiss chard*

*Tastes better in winter, but will grow well through summer.

Grown in 60 days

Arugula 30-40 days to harvest
Basil 35-45 days to harvest
Beet 50-65 days to harvest
Cabbage 50-65 days to harvest
Carrots
55-75 days to harvest
Cilantro 60-75 days to harvest
Collards 55-60 days to harvest
Cucumbers
55-65 days to harvest
Garlic 90-110 in ground all winter
Kale 45-60 days to harvest
Kohlrabi 55-65 days to harvest
Lettuce 45-60 days to harvest
Leek 85-105 in ground all winter
Mustard 30-50 days to harvest
Green bunching onion 55-60 days to harvest
Snap Peas 55-60 days to harvest
Radish 25-40 days to harvest
Spinach 37-50 days to harvest
Swiss Chard 50-60 days to harvest
Turnip 45-60 days to harvest

Planting a garden at the end of the summer is something I enjoy for 2 reasons:

  1. Watching a whole new growing process from seed-to-salad or seed-to-sandwich is my favorite process in the world. It is so amazing that 1 tiny seed can turn into a meal, or part of a meal. Growth isn’t limited to spring if you know what to plant & when to plant it.
  2. A whole new batch of fresh veggies! I didn’t grow much other than Tomatoes, Jalapeños, and Habaneros this year so it’ll be nice to get fresh Spinach, Lettuce, Radishes & other salad-friendly veggies back in rotation.

First Fall Frost

As is noted above, most of these crops are somewhat frost-tolerant – some vegetables will even be more flavorful after the frost! But, if you are deep into October & fear a hard frost, or even a freeze, you may want to take some precautions if you want to extend your growing season even further.

Please let me know if you have any questions about starting your garden & I’ll be happy to help!

2 thoughts on “What to Plant at the End of August

  1. […] Keep in mind that this is a garden to be harvested in the Fall – you want to pick vegetables that are cold-hardy & that will be harvested before the frost (check out my cold-hardy vegetable list here!) […]

  2. […] Keep in mind that this is a garden to be harvested in the Fall – you want to pick vegetables that are cold-hardy & that will be harvested before the frost (check out my cold-hardy vegetable list here!) […]

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