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22.7.13

Seeds to Sow in Summer for Fall Vegetable Harvests

For most of my gardening life I thought that gardening happened in April and May when you sow your seeds and plant your summer vegetable crops and then you spend the rest of summer battling weeds. But as I've encountered more serious vegetable gardeners I've been doing more second season planting in the garden. Whether you call it second season sowing or succession planting, you should plant a second crop of vegetables in summer. Yes, there are seeds to sow in summer for a fall harvest.

Second Season Fall Seed Planting



The trick with planting seeds starting in July for a fall harvest for gardeners in Zones 4-6 is to give your plants some breathing room from your first frost. As a general rule, two weeks are added to the date to maturity on the seed packet. This will account for the lower light and cooler temperatures of late summer and early fall where plants are growing slower. But many vegetable gardeners in Chicago that I've encountered have pointed out that greens like Swiss chard and kale will taste better when they're lightly kissed by frost.

Peas growing in a garden

Peas are another good crop to plant in summer to harvest in the summer. You can also sow bush beans until late July and get a pretty decent crop.

Forest Green Parsley

Dill, cilantro, spinach, leaf lettuce, arugula and parsley seeds can be sowed from mid July through August. The variety pictured above is 'Forest Green' parsley, which I think is superior in looks and taste to flat leaf parsley. One thing you'll notice with your succession planting is that plants, like lettuce, will have larger than normal leaves. This is because when the light levels drop plant grow larger leaves to capture more light.

Purple Basil

Mid to late July is also a good time to sow some more basil if your basil started flowering and is tasting a little bitter. Take this opportunity to plant more basil for pesto, or plant some of the more aromatic varieties of basil so you can experiment in the kitchen with making infusions, drinks and candy.

In mid July, sow seeds for broccoli, cabbage, kohlrabi, and Brussels sprouts. You can also plant another round of root crops like radishes, parsnips, carrots, and beets.

When the colder temperatures hit you can protect your fall harvest by covering the plants at night with blankets from your home and frost blankets they sell at the garden center. If you enjoy succession planting and getting another crop of edibles from your garden in the fall, you can also build cold frames and hoop houses over your raised beds.

If, like me, you have always been a summer gardener, give second season gardening a chance. I have found that I stress a lot less about the garden in spring when I know I have a second chance of growing a lot of things at the end of summer. Even if you don't plant a second season vegetable garden this year, I encourage you to visit some urban and rural farms and see what they're planting for the fall in your area for ideas for yourself. I have learned so much about vegetable gardening in late summer from talking to people who garden for production and sales.

What are you seeds to sow in summer for a fall vegetable harvest?

15 comments:

  1. We do broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, cabbage, brussels sprouts, sugar snap peas, beans, kale and onions for the fall. We try to extend the garden season as much as possible!

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    1. Nice. Sounds like you have an awesome fall garden!

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  2. Thank you for the reminder, it has been so hot that I have not even given it a thought till now.

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    1. Hi Renata, I know what you mean. The heat of summer sometimes makes us want to forget gardening all together and we miss out on the joys of gardening in the fall.

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  3. OMG looks GORGEOUS!!! Nasturtiums and basil are among my favorites.. I did a lot of cucumbers this year because we eat Persian cucumbers by the truck loads.

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    1. Nadia, I saw a lot of Persian cucumbers this year and I wish I had planted some. They're so delicious.

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  4. Something i definitely wnt to try, altho i have a couple of extra weeks for zone 7b. Thank goodness. Am just not ready. To battle the heat to plant.

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    1. Webb, You're lucky. I wish I had an extended growing season to grow more plants.

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  5. My biggest challenge with summer plantings always was keeping well watered. Miss a really hot day or a friend doesn't water enough while you're on vacation and they're toast. But when it works, it's so rewarding.

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    1. Patrick, I know what you mean. On top of the annoying aspect of forgetting to water on that one day, there's the fact that letting your plants wilt or dry out for just one day will lead to plant deaths which will make you feel discouraged. Sometimes it's happened and I've just given up the garden all together.

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  6. Gardening stressful? You mean weeding is gardening too? Be careful, MBT, you might scare some people away:) Seriously, the challenges keep me coming back for more. Maybe gardening is a carefully controlled form of insanity. Or is it cultivating it--the insanity, I mean? Thanks for reminding me to sow some more herb seeds and get my containers ready for a fall crop of veggies.

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    1. Walk2Write, LOL. I prefer to be honest about gardening. People need to know what they're getting into. It's not always harvests and smelling roses. It's a lot of hard work that we should be prepared for.

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  7. Thanks for the reminder! I never got my spring plantings off the ground, but you've inspired me :)

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    1. Garden Broad, That's too bad. I hope you got a your fall garden in to at least get some time in the garden. But I know you're doing a lot of indoor gardening so that's cool too.

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  8. Anonymous12:52 PM

    WTTW has started its own organic vegetable garden. Join us on Homegrown (http://chicagotonight.wttw.com/homegrown) as we learn how to create an affordable, productive garden in the city. We brought in Jeanne Nolan, founder of The Organic Gardener (http://www.theorganicgardener.net/index.html), to help us. Share your gardening experiences, photos, and videos with us as well as ask food gardening questions of Nolan.

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