It’s that weird part of the summer where you know there’s still plenty of warm weather left, but that little voice begins to whisper in the back of your brain – fall is coming. There are back-to-school supplies in the stores, and many eager retailers even have Halloween merchandise out.
But that whispering voice is right.
Fall, it seems, is right around the corner, and with it, the end of the growing season.
No worries, though. Just as you’ve still got plenty of time to soak up the sun, hit the beach, or sip lemonade on the front porch, there is also time to get another crop in. Several, in fact.
Despite the fact that the kids will be heading back to school in a matter of weeks, there are a number of vegetables you can still plant in August and harvest before the end of the season.
Radishes
Really, you should be planting radishes every week during all but the hottest periods of the summer. They grow crazy fast, and they’re perfectly bite-sized, which means they disappear quickly.
So, it’s nice to head out to the garden each week, knowing there’s a new crop of crunchy, bitey radishes ready. You can enjoy them as my family has always done: served whole in a bowl of ice water, plucked straight from the bowl, and then dipped lightly in your own personal salt dish. Mmm!
Radishes grow so quickly that there is always time to plant “just one more row,” and you should. Weekly. All through August.
Beans
Beans are another great succession planting crop, and even in August, you’ve still got time to get another row or two in. Whether you’re hoping to can more dilly beans, have fresh beans on hand for eating, or you’re planning on preserving them to enjoy in the off-season, it’s always a good idea to plant several crops of beans a week or two apart.
Once a plant starts to slow down and is no longer putting out beans, I yank it up, compost it and plant a new bean seed in its place.
Lettuce
As we all know, lettuce is almost impossible to grow in the heat of summer. It bolts or gets bitter. But start planting lettuce in August in the shade of larger plants, such as tomatoes and peppers and in a few weeks, you’ll have fresh lettuce for salads.
The days are growing shorter again, which means longer shadows in your garden. Sheltered beneath a larger plant, this usually provides enough shade to keep lettuce happy this late in the summer.
Carrots
If you’re harvesting your first round of carrots right about now, go ahead and plant another crop. You’ve got enough time left in the season to get a second round of carrots going before the season is over. Choose a variety that matures in 60-80 days, such as Danvers, Little Fingers, and Chantenay.
Towards the end of the month, as evening temperatures continue to drop, you can also plant my favorite carrot, the Kyoto Red. This particular variety has incredibly good flavor but will only grow in cooler weather. It doesn’t do well in the spring but produces amazingly sweet carrots if you plant it at the back end of the season.
Zucchini & Summer Squash
Okay, this one comes with a slight caveat. Get the seeds in the ground as early in the month as possible. Make sure you keep them well-watered and fertilized. When male and female flowers appear, you might want to hand-pollinate them to ensure you get every squash possible.
I wouldn’t recommend this approach for your main source of summer squash. What we’re growing here is backup squash.
If it’s mid-summer and your existing plants are inundated with pests (I’m looking at you squash borers) or a disease, the best course of action is to yank up the plant and be done with it. But you don’t have to call it quits and wait until next year for more zucchini or patty pans. Poke a new seed or two in the ground right then and there.
You’ve likely got enough growing season left to enjoy a small harvest of new summer squash.
Will you end up with a bumper crop? Probably not. Will you still get a few more loaves of zucchini bread and zucchini boats for dinner before the first frost? You betcha.
Trust me, when you’re watching your summer squash plants peter out and die in the middle of the summer, a few extra squash are better than none.
Beets
Beets are a great root vegetable that gives you double the bang for your buck. The leaves are incredible in salads. They’re a bit more substantial than lettuce without the overpowering flavor of other greens like kale.
If you plant beets in August, you get the benefit of the greens while you wait for the roots to grow. When the round bulbs are ready to harvest, it usually coincides with the arrival of cooler weather. Not quite fall, but not the dog days of summer, which makes the thought of turning the oven on for roasted beets much nicer.
To really take advantage of this tasty root veggie, plant a new crop every month right up until a few weeks before the first frost.
Spinach
Spinach is quite heat-sensitive, so it will quickly bolt if it’s too hot out, which rules it out for most of the summer. But sometime in August, the evenings start cooling off again, and the days hint of cooler weather to come. This is the perfect time to plant spinach.
As it first emerges, you get to enjoy the tender baby leaves. But leave enough behind for a main crop later on. Plan on successive weekly plantings starting in August, and you’ll have brilliant salads for the rest of the summer and sturdy greens to carry you into the changing of the seasons once cold weather arrives in earnest.
