Vegetables with a short growing season that can mature before the first major frosts are best suited for August sowing. Among these are lettuce, kohlrabi, leafy cabbages, chard, spinach, red-leafed amaranth, and radishes.
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At the end of summer, you can also consider perennial plants. It is not too late to sow or plant multi-layered onions, garlic chives, and wild garlic.
For those who want to try something less usual in the beds, there is also a good selection. In August, you can sow autumn turnips, tuberous fennel, summer purslane, staghorn sorrel, or Chinese garlic chives. The latter are perennials, mild-flavored herbs whose leaves and flowers are edible.
Not only the vegetable but also the sowing day is important
At the end of summer, one of the biggest problems may not be the approaching autumn but the dried-out soil. Therefore, it is best to choose a day that is not the hottest for sowing or planting. Especially suitable is the time after rain when the soil is cooler and moist.
If the soil is very dry, it is recommended to water it abundantly the day before the planned work. This will help the seeds and young plants get enough moisture from the start.
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Before sowing, the bed should be loosened and weeds removed. Depending on the soil condition, it can be supplemented with organic, longer-acting fertilizers. Later, regular watering is especially important – young plants should not suffer from lack of moisture.
What to plant where the harvest has already been taken?
When a bed becomes free, it is worth considering what grew there before. Crop rotation in the garden helps plants better utilize the nutrients in the soil and prevents the soil from being depleted in one way.
Vegetables are divided according to their nutrient needs into those requiring low, medium, and high amounts. For example, legumes such as peas and beans enrich the soil with nitrogen. Therefore, after them, conditions are favorable for plants that require more nutrients, such as cabbages.
So, there is no need to finish the garden season in August yet. By properly choosing plants, considering the vegetables that grew in the bed before them, and taking care of moisture, empty spaces can be used for a new crop – some of which can be harvested already in autumn, and some plants can be grown for the next season.
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