Summer may be winding down, but a productive vegetable garden keeps on providing. As you create gaps in beds, take advantage of this space and think of hardy vegetables to plant in September that can provide harvests throughout winter.
Cool-season crops like spinach, kale, Asian greens, collard greens, and mustards can mature quickly in early fall and are tolerant enough to handle the early frosts. These hardy crops can remain in the vegetable garden into winter and provide rich pickings late in the year.
Your climate makes a difference, as gardeners in US hardiness zones 7+ can keep sowing later than those in colder zones. For me, September has always been an opportune window to fill gaps in the garden, and I often add organic chicken manure pellets (available at Walmart) to the soil before planting to add a vital source of nutrients. Here are my picks of seven hardy vegetables to plant in September that you can pick well into winter and beyond.
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1. Spinach
(Image credit: Future)
Spinach is a perfect crop for planting in early fall, as it’s a fast-growing cool-season vegetable that prefers lower temperatures rather than hot summers.
Warm temperatures usually cause spinach to bolt, while it thrives in milder 60–70°F days of September. Spinach is a fast-growing vegetable that can fill gaps created by summer harvests, or you can grow spinach in pots if you have any going free.
The easiest way to start growing spinach this month is to buy young plants. A slightly longer, but very satisfying route, is to sow the seeds directly outdoors into their growing position. Sow the seeds thinly into inch-long drills and keep them moist for good germination.
As the seedlings appear, thin them to 6-10 inches apart, and you can start to harvest spinach once the leaves are large enough to use. This could be 30-40 days for baby leaves, or a few weeks longer if you want mature ones.
Get live Okinawa spinach plants at Amazon
2. Kale
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Kale is a very underrated crop, in my opinion. I have grown kale in kitchen gardens I worked in and on my home plots for many years, as it is a perfect winter crop that tolerates cold and can be harvested as a cut-and-come-again vegetable for many months.
The leaves are rich in nutrients and fiber and taste even sweeter in winter after a few frosts, which convert the starches into sugars. Once the temperature drops, cover them with frost cloth (you can get row covers at Walmart) to protect the plants from frost, and you can keep harvesting kale well into winter.
In September, gardeners can usually source young plants at garden centers or online to plant kale in the ground or pots. Or you can sow seeds directly into the growing site, sowing them a half-inch deep and a few inches apart, spacing them a foot apart as they develop.
I have grown red and green curly kale and red Russian kale, but always come back to cavolo nero (or lacinato kale, dinosaur kale, or Tuscan kale) as my favorite. You can get two live dinosaur kale plants at Amazon to add to your veg garden this month, or get curly-leaved Prizm kale plants and seeds at Burpee.
3. Collard Greens
(Image credit: Alamy/Alice Musbach)
Collard greens are hugely popular in Southern cooking. If you want to harvest these super-nutritious leaves for stews, stir-fries, soups, or sautéed dishes this winter, you can start growing collard greens this month. As a fast-growing crop, you can potentially begin harvesting baby leaves within 30 days.
You can plant young plants in September. For example, these ready-to-plant collard seedlings on Amazon can go straight into a sunny spot and be spaced 18-24 inches apart. Or you can get seeds (like these Top Chop collard greens seeds at Burpee) and sow them directly into the soil a half-inch deep in rows three feet apart.
Collard greens are hardy down to 15°F and can overwinter with ease in milder climates. A light frost sweetens their flavor, making them even more delectable for winter dishes.
I grew these in one kitchen garden and was picking the leaves throughout December and January for chefs. We covered the plants with a hoop tunnel (you can get strong greenhouse hoops at Amazon) and frost cloth to protect them from extreme temperatures and winter damage.
4. Corn Salad
(Image credit: Future)
Corn salad, which is also known as lamb’s lettuce and mache, is a marvel of a winter crop. The small-leaved, low-growing plant may not look much, but it is incredibly winter hardy and can provide lots of leaves for salads throughout the winter.
If you want a vegetable to harvest in December to add a nutty flavor to winter salads, grow corn salad as it’ll reliably crop. I even picked it through a layer of snow in one kitchen garden I worked in.
Sowing corn salad seeds in late summer and early fall means you will have invaluable harvests throughout winter, potentially even through to mid-spring. If you cover plants with row covers or cloches (get PVC garden cloches at The Home Depot) through the harshest winter weather, you’ll guarantee the best leaves to pick.
Sow corn salad seeds in shallow drills spaced four inches apart and cover them lightly with soil. You can get Dutch broad-leaved corn salad seeds at True Leaf Market to plant in September.
Keep the soil moist by using a watering can with a fine rose attached (this steel watering can at Wayfair comes with a removable rose for fine watering) to avoid disturbing the seeds, and thin seedlings to 4-6 inches apart. You can start harvesting small leaves as a cut-and-come-again crop within 4-6 weeks.
5. Winter Radish
(Image credit: Getty Images/Photographer, Basak Gurbuz Derman)
There is still time to start growing radishes in September. But I am not talking about the typical summer salad radishes. September is a window for sowing their winter cousins, such as Black Spanish radishes or daikon radishes (also known as mooli).
Winter radishes are larger and slower-growing than their speedy summer counterparts. They are also very hardy and can be left in the ground to develop right up until the soil freezes. Even then, winter radishes can be lifted and stored for many months to eat raw, add to soups or stir-fries, or roast.
I annually sow Black Spanish Round radish seeds (available at True Leaf Market) in September. I plant this radish because it is reliable and easy to grow, plus it looks good with black skin and white flesh. Sow the seeds an inch deep in rows 12 inches apart, then thin the seedlings to six inches apart.
You should be able to start harvesting radishes in 8-10 weeks from sowing.
6. Mustard Greens
Mustard greens tick all the right boxes if you want a cool-season crop to add some peppery flavors to winter dishes.
I have grown Golden Frills, Red Giant and Southern Giant, among others, over the years, for bountiful harvests of leaves that come in bright colors and flavors from mild to fiery. The leaves can be eaten raw or cooked and go from sowing to harvesting in around four weeks.
You can sow the seeds of a wide variety of mustard greens directly into the soil in early fall. They will germinate quickly in the warm, moist September soil and require little attention, aside from watering during dry spells in early fall. Regular watering is important, as hot, dry weather often makes the leaves turn bitter and tough.
Sow the seeds a half-inch deep in rows 12 inches apart. Check the seed packet for the exact spacing required for full-grown plants, which can vary depending on the plant and the desired leaves, from 3-4 inches for baby leaves to 12 inches for larger plants.
Get Southern Giant Curled mustard seeds at True Leaf Market
Get Red Giant mustard seeds at Amazon
7. Asian Greens
(Image credit: Future)
Another often-overlooked range of hardy vegetables to plant in September is Asian greens. These low-maintenance cool-season crops include mizuna, komatsuna, pak choi, and tatsoi, and the leaves can be added raw to salads or cooked in many Asian dishes.
Asian greens don’t take up much space in the vegetable garden and can easily fill gaps you have created by harvesting summer crops. They can be harvested as cut-and-come-again crops by removing a few of the largest outer leaves at a time with a pair of pruning snips (like these at Amazon), or cut the entire head and the plant should resprout. It can take just 4-6 weeks from sowing to harvesting.
Sow the seeds into a sunny or partially shaded spot in the vegetable garden, or directly into raised beds or containers. Plant the seeds an inch deep and two inches apart – for multiple rows, space each 12 inches apart. Keep the plants well watered, and watch out for slugs who may try to nibble your precious seedlings.
Get Komatsuna seeds at True Leaf Market
Get White Pak Choi seeds at Burpee
Get Black Knight Tatsoi seeds at Amazon
Knowing the right timings for sowing and planting is vital for growing vegetables successfully. With a bit of planning, gardeners can plant crops year-round. To inspire you, our guide to when to plant vegetables shows what you can sow and grow each month, from January to December.
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