August is a superb time for gardens. The climate is cooling, the times are shortening, and colourful leaves and blooms are ample. It’s an excellent month to plan your fall harvest.
Many cool-weather lovers carry out higher on the finish of summer season. They nonetheless want daylight, although they don’t want the excessive warmth that tomatoes, beans, and corn vegetation choose. You’ll need to develop fall crops like cabbage, cauliflower, and kale.
Fast growers, like radishes and lettuce, are additionally important within the late summer season backyard. You possibly can direct sow their seeds in empty pockets of the yard to fill it with lush development.
Bear in mind, it’s not too late to develop crops! When you lately cleared the summer season backyard or forgot to develop crops this 12 months, check out these greens to sow in August.
Arugula
Leafy greens are good for newbie gardeners. They’re fast to mature, simple to reap, and scrumptious! Arugula is among the tastiest greens to sow in August. It has a spicy punch that’s highly effective and flavorful.
There are two most important kinds of arugula greens: perennial and annual. Annual arugula tends to style mildly spicy and nutty, whereas perennial arugula is robust with a peppery kick. I wish to develop each.
The perennial kind survives 12 months to 12 months in USDA hardiness zones 5 via 9, whereas the annual arugula requires reseeding yearly. You might also discover these greens beneath the names wallrocket, rocket, and roquette in French.
Asian Greens
Asian greens embrace leafy favorites like bok choy, napa cabbage, and chrysanthemum greens (shungiku). They’re quick-maturing greens, they usually style greatest after they’re younger and tender. This makes them good greens to sow in August.
Which Asian inexperienced to attempt depends upon your rising area and your culinary preferences. Bok choy is a crowd pleaser; child varieties solely want about 30 to 35 days to mature! Go for dwarf alternatives like ‘Child Choi’ or ‘Toy Choy.’
These greens want cool temperatures and constant moisture to thrive. Let fall rains water them for you, or arrange an irrigation system to maintain them sufficiently moist whereas they mature.
Broccoli Raab
Broccoli raab, often known as rapini or Italian broccoli, is a detailed relative of heading broccoli. This species has small heads and tender, edible greens. The flavour is mildly paying homage to broccoli with a extra peppery kick.
These greens kind small heads and don’t want as a lot time to mature as typical broccoli varieties. Discover mature vegetation prepared for harvest solely 45 days after germination.
Broccoli raab wants cool, moist climate and loads of direct daylight. Direct sow seeds in an open spot of the backyard and water them usually to assist them sprout.
Cabbage
Cabbage is one other head-forming crop. It sprouts spoon-shaped leaves that curl up into a good ball of foliage. These tight heads style supreme in roasts, saurkraut, and fermented items.
Cabbage dislikes rising in the summertime. Develop it as an early spring crop with different greens, or direct sow seeds on the finish of summer season for a fall harvest.
Gardeners in delicate, frost-free areas can domesticate it within the winter! Merely sow these vegetable seeds in August or later, and let the heads mature beneath the cool of fall.
Cauliflower
Cauliflower is intently associated to different greens like cabbage, broccoli, and kale! These veggies are in a bunch referred to as cole crops. All of them descend from a single, widespread ancestor, the wild mustard identified botanically as Brassica oleracea.
Cole crops choose cool temperatures, full solar, and constant moisture to thrive. They undergo in summer season, although they outperform scorching crops in early spring and fall.
Most cauliflower varieties want 70 days or extra to mature after they sprout. Their delicate frost tolerance permits them to outlive properly into September and October. When you backyard in an space with a brief autumn season, think about direct sowing these greens in July as an alternative of August.
Collards
Collards are additionally cole crops! They develop lengthy, thick, and huge leaves that style very good in cooked greens dishes. They’re a lot extra heat-tolerant than mustard or kale, making them good greens to sow in August.
Not solely are they heat-tolerant, however many collards are frost-tolerant as properly! They’ll flip sweeter after mild frosts. Choose leaves individually to make use of a couple of, or harvest all the plant to make use of it suddenly.
Younger collard leaves style nice recent—you don’t should cook dinner them! Use the younger foliage for salads and sandwiches. The bigger leaves get harder as they develop, they usually work properly in ready and cooked dishes.
Kale
Mature kale is hard and hearty like full-grown collards. It lately noticed a culinary revival within the early 2010s as cooks and cooks started utilizing it in new methods. It’s one of many few versatile greens that work properly each recent and cooked in recipes.
Kale wants a month or two to mature, and you may harvest its child greens for recent consuming. Sow vegetable seeds in August and allow them to flourish beneath the moist, delicate situations of fall.
Kales are available in all sizes and styles. Go for purple, blue, or inexperienced sorts, and choose ones with frilly, clean, or divided foliage. Can’t determine on a single selection? Select a pre-made combine, just like the ‘Premier Mix,’ for a mixture of a number of varieties.
Lettuce
Lettuce is among the most typical greens. You’ve seemingly eaten lettuce at the moment already! Whether or not it’s romaine, iceberg, or butterhead lettuce, these vegetation flourish within the backyard on the finish of the rising season. They’re nice greens to sow in August for a sturdy fall harvest.
Lettuce seeds germinate quickly and readily when soil temperatures sit between 60-70°F (16-21°C). They wrestle to germinate beneath summer season’s warmth, making them extra appropriate for planting within the fall. Develop this vegetable alongside your cole crops, winter roots, and canopy crops.
When you backyard in a area with a brief autumn season, you might develop lettuce to reap its younger leaves. They’re tender, barely crunchy, and filled with taste.
Mustard Greens
Mustards are just like collards in look, although they’ve a distinct taste that’s hearty and scrumptious. They’re an previous backyard favourite, which is why there are dozens of types to select from these days.
Attempt red-leaf mustards, curly-leaf sorts, or flat-leaf inexperienced ones. This vegetable has many cultivars, and there’s certain to be a correct one on your backyard.
When you’re searching for a novel vegetable to sow in August, attempt the Japanese favourite referred to as mustard spinach. It’s neither a mustard nor a spinach; it’s a separate species! Harvest its younger leaves for salads, or allow them to mature for cooking recipes.
Radish
Most root crops want time to kind their swollen roots for harvesting. Radishes are the exception! They’re quick-maturing greens match for the autumn backyard.
Spring radishes aren’t only for the spring. They usually develop in that season as a result of they’re quick-growing. Some varieties, like ‘Cherry Belle,’ want solely 24 days to mature after sprouting! Sow them successively each week or two for constant fall harvests till the primary frost.
Winter radishes are a bit completely different. They want shortening days to mature, they usually’re extra frost-tolerant than spring sorts. Plant winter radish varieties like ‘Spherical Black Spanish’ in August for fall and winter harvests.
Spinach
No vegetable has tender leaves like spinach! They’re an important a part of the autumn backyard. Their delicate, scrumptious leaves go nice in salads, sandwiches, and cooked dishes like casseroles.
Many spinach varieties exist, they usually mature sooner than most different greens. Most spinach cultivars want 28 days to develop! Sow these greens this August, and maintain the soil cool and moist whereas they germinate.
When you’ve by no means grown spinach earlier than, attempt the ‘America’ selection. It’s frost and heat-tolerant, and it tastes nice when younger or absolutely grown.
Swiss Chard
Fall is the season for leafy greens. The change of climate creates excellent situations for tender, candy, and juicy leaves. Although Swiss chard excels in autumn, it’s an excellent crop for rising year-round within the backyard.
This leafy veggie is a biennial, which means it grows foliage in its first 12 months and flowers and seeds the following 12 months. You possibly can get pleasure from its younger leaves anytime. The absolutely grown ones are nice for cooked greens dishes.
Chard can generally have a bitter style. To take away it, attempt blanching the leaves for a couple of minutes. Boil them for 5 minutes, pressure them, and allow them to cool. Then, squeeze all of the moisture out of them and use them in your recipes. You might also freeze them for long-term storage after blanching.
Turnips
Like radishes, turnips are quick-maturing root greens that love rising in spring or fall. They’re not as widespread as carrots and beets these days, although they need to be! They style nice they usually’re simple greens to sow in August.
Turnips are one of many versatile greens. Harvest the foundation for a savory deal with, or choose the leaves to eat as recent greens. Some turnips, like ‘Seven High,’ solely develop greens for consuming! Select the turnip that matches your wants essentially the most.
Many growers favor the Japanese salad turnips; they’re candy, fruity, and crunchy. Slice them for recent consuming, grate them on salads, or pickle them to protect their crunchiness.