Fall
The second season
In zones 5–7, August is the sowing month. In the South, fall is the garden. Count days to first frost, then sow what still finishes. Skip new tomatoes.
Match your ZIP · Fall dates on the calendar
Crops that still finish
Lettuce
The crop that makes a first garden feel like a garden. Sow in spring and again in late summer.
30–55 days · zones 3a–10b
Kale
Spring and fall. Sweeter after frost. One of the few greens that earns its keep into December in the Midwest.
50–65 days · zones 3a–10a
Spinach
Bolts in heat. Sow the moment the soil can be worked, and again in late summer for fall.
37–50 days · zones 3a–10a
Radish
Twenty-five days. The crop you sow when you need a win, or when the season is almost over.
22–30 days · zones 3a–11a
Cilantro
Cool-season herb. Sow every three weeks in spring and fall. It will bolt. That is not a failure.
40–55 days · zones 3a–10b
Garlic
The October crop. Plant cloves in fall, harvest in early summer. Grocery garlic is often treated — buy seed garlic.
220–270 days · zones 3a–9a
Arugula
Thirty days. The fall and spring green that makes a first bed feel like a kitchen.
28–40 days · zones 3a–10b
Broccoli
A cool finisher. Spring crop if you start indoors; better as a fall crop in the heat of zone 6+.
55–85 days · zones 3a–9b
Swiss chard
The spinach that does not quit in June. Cut stems all summer, then again in fall.
50–60 days · zones 3a–10b
Beets
Greens and roots from one sowing. Direct-sow. Thin like you mean it.
50–65 days · zones 3a–10a
Kits for late summer
Late summer
Fall greens
What to sow in August and September while everyone else is done. Count days to first frost.
Open kitFall
October garlic
Seed garlic plus the mulch habit. Plant cloves 4–6 weeks before first frost. Grocery bulbs are often treated — skip them.
Open kitMidsummer start
Fall brassicas
Start broccoli and kale in trays in July. Transplant into the hole the tomatoes leave. Cool nights do the finishing.
Open kit
Read first
Plant garlic in October
The crop that works while you rest. Seed garlic, not the grocery bin. Point up, mulch, wait until June.
Succession sowing without a spreadsheet
One sowing is a meal. Three sowings are a habit. The calendar is the tool.
The fall garden that actually finishes
August is not too late. It is the second season. Count days, then sow greens and order garlic.
The sow list
A note when it is time to sow
Seasonal, not daily. We will send what to start in your zone, and skip the rest of the year.
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