September and October are prime months to plant perennial plants that are not frost tender. It's not too late to plant fall vegetables and herbs. Vegetable starts for cool season vegetables continue to be in great supply.
Vegetables to plant in October: Beets, broccoli, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, collards, garlic, kale, kohlrabi, lettuce, onion (seed & sets), radishes, spinach, strawberries and turnips.
Leafy greens and Brassicas: Lettuces, spinach, and Swiss chard can be planted from seed or from transplant this month. Plant members of the Brassica family, including broccoli, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, kale, kohlrabi, and cauliflower, from transplant. Kale can also be planted from seed in October.
Even hardier vegetables that can survive temperatures as low as 20˚F include cabbage, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, carrots, kale, leeks, rutabagas and turnips. Upon thawing out, these hardy vegetables will continue to grow between freezes!
To ensure a successful fall and winter harvest, you need to start many of your late-season crops in the peak of summer. In most regions, this means planting in the heat of August to give your crops time to size up while growing conditions are still good.
Popular fall-planted cover crops include oats, winter rye, winter wheat, crimson clover, and hairy vetch. The latter two crops are legumes- plants that can add a lot of nitrogen to your soil after they decompose. These crops are typically planted as early as August 15, but no later than October 10th.
Plant your fall vegetables so that the crops you choose have time to reach maturity before the first frost in your area. Find your first frost date, then count backward based on days to maturity for each type of veggie you want to grow. That's your ideal planting date.
You can expect success planting potatoes in the fall as long as your soil gets cold and stays cold in winter, with temperatures 8 inches (20 cm) below the surface staying below 48°F (9°C). Buried potato tubers start growing as soil temperatures rise above 50°F (10°C). Your garden gets a vote, too.
These cold-weather champs are kale, spinach and collards. Other hardy vegetables include broccoli, Brussels sprouts, English peas, kohlrabi and leeks. Hardy root crops are radishes and turnip, which also yields some greens from the tops.
When it's October, people often wonder if it is too late to plant new seed. The good news is if you hurry, seed can still be planted in October with the hope that it will survive the upcoming winter.
October is a great time to plant those fall flowers. There are many varieties that can be planted this fall and start blooming early spring. Garlic (Zones 5-10): Garlic is a vegetable that can be planted in the fall for a larger and earlier harvest this coming spring.
Whether you're new to gardening, or a seasoned pro, building better soil is the single most important thing you can do to improve your gardening success. And fall is the best time to do it! To learn more, read Building Healthy Soil.
By midsummer you should be knee-deep in tomatoes, beans, zucchini, and peppers, so it can be hard to remind yourself to shop for seeds for your next season of vegetable gardening. However, July and August are the best time to get a start on fall and winter food gardening.
Some popular legumes used for winter protection include crimson clover (Trifolium incarnatum) red clover, (T. pretense), hairy vetch (Vicia villosa), and field peas (Pisum sativum subsp. arvense). Planting times vary a little for the legume species, but most should generally be planted by mid-to-late September.
Crimson clover (Trifolium incarnatum)
The prettiest cover crop of the bunch, crimson clover can be planted anytime during the growing season. The simple taproot of this annual legume mines and builds nitrogen in the soil.
Cut down your cover crops before they go to seed. A good indicator for when to knock down the cover crop is when one half of the crop is flowering. This allows you to take advantage of maximum biomass. After cutting, let it decompose so that you get the maximum benefit to the crop that you're going to plant afterward.
According to Foxx, kale, collard greens, and lettuce can all thrive during winter. "They are pretty similar in terms of how to grow them, too," she says. If you've never grown greens before, Foxx recommends starting with kale or collard greens.