What To Plant In August
Have you been wondering what to plant in August? Can you believe the price of groceries? They keep going up. We must grow a garden and produce at least some food, hopefully more each year. I like to update my monthly series of posts every year. I’m still planting seeds outside.
What To Plant In August
Please keep in mind the climate has changed in all zones. We can no longer count on the correct zones for planting. We must pay attention to the weather channel or our outdoor thermometers.
We can do this, I promise. You can produce some of your food if you have acres, a small lot like mine, or pots.
I’m thankful I taught myself how to hand-pollinate my Zucchini Plants and Cucumber Plants.
If you have bees, you may not have to do this, but where I live, the bees have been very limited for the past few years. I purchase all of my garden seeds from this company: SeedsNow.
I highly recommend these for CowPots and Organic Seedling Soil: this way, you can plant your seeds and place the CowPots in your garden when the temperatures are correct.
My goal is to grow some vegetables throughout the late fall and winter. We will have to see if I can get my garden set up.
I’ll eventually have to cover my raised garden beds to protect them from freezing (when they get built here in my new yard). Check here to find your Planting Zone. It’s easy; all you do is add your zip code. I love it!
How I store my garden seeds:
Plastic Photo Container and Label Maker
Soil Amendments
Before we get started with the vegetables you can plant, let’s be sure your soil is ready. Here are my tips for soil; I do this every Spring and Fall.
We first need to pull any weeds that have come up since the last time you turned over the soil.
Dig out any leftover crops you missed the last time you harvested. Turn the soil several times and add the following amendments if you need them:
Soil pH Levels
What Does The Term pH Level Mean?
Are you wondering what the term pH level means when gardening? Each plant prefers a different level of acidity to grow the very best harvest. The level of acidity desired varies between each plant.
Therefore, you can adjust the pH of your soil by adding lime or sulfur to bring it up or down, depending on what your soil needs. You can have your soil tested, possibly by your state extension service, or try to do it yourself with a soil tester. pH Tester Tester Strips
What to Plant in August by Zone
Usually, I talk about what to grow each month based on my zone, but in this section, I want to share with you the different plants you can grow in each zone. You can find it here if you don’t know what zone you live in. USDA PLANTING ZONE. The climate has changed in so many areas; I’m not sure these are as accurate; each year, we have a drought or too much rain.
Zone 1
In your fall garden, here are the plants that do best in zone 1:
- Artichokes (Globe)
- Chinese Cabbage
- Kohlrabi
- Lettuce (leaf only)
- Peas
- Spinach
- Turnips
Zone 2
You can still plant quite a bit in Zone 2 during August. Here is a list of seeds you can plant:
- Artichokes (Globe)
- Broccoli
- Chinese Cabbage
- Endive
- Kohlrabi
- Lettuce (leaf only)
Zone 3-4
As the weather changes in zones 3-4, you won’t be able to plant everything, but you can still plant several veggies. Here is what you can plant in zones 3-4 in August:
- Kohlrabi
- Lettuce (head only)
- Radishes
- Spinach
- Turnips (early August
Zones 5-6
There are a lot of fall plants you can start in zones 5-6. Here is what you can plant in August:
- Beets
- Broccoli
- Brussels Sprouts
- Carrots
- Kale
- Peas
- Peppers (early in August)
- Radishes
- Spinach
- Squash
- Turnips
Zones 7-8
This is my area, and there are a lot of things I like to plant in August. Here are just a few things you can plant in zones 7-8 in August:
- Beans
- Beets (after the 15th)
- Brussels Sprouts
- Cabbage
- Carrots
- Cauliflower
- Corn (early)
- Cucumber (early)
- Kale
- Lettuce
- Onions (early)
- Peppers (early)
- Spinach
- Squash
- Tomatoes (early)
Zones 9-10
Again, August is still a great time to plant your fall garden in these zones. Here is what you can plant in zones 9-10 in August:
- Broccoli
- Cauliflower
- Celery
- Cucumbers (Zone 9 only)
- Eggplant (Zone 10 only)
- Okra (10 only)
- Peas (9 only)
- Peppers (early)
- Pumpkins
- Squash (summer and winter)
- Tomatoes (9 only)
- Turnips (9 only)
- Watermelon (early)
What To Plant In August
1. Carrots
Carrots like smooth, loamy soil with nutrients added, as shown above. I like to moisten the soil slightly, sprinkle the seeds over the soil, and cover them with compost.
Keep the rows about 3 inches apart and stagger, planting the seeds over two to three weeks to have an abundant harvest for the season.
Be careful if you live in intense heat, as carrots don’t like to dry out. If you water them by hand for two to three weeks after planting the seeds, you will soon see the little sprouts.
This is when you will fertilize with some Miracle-Gro Fertilizer and thin the carrots as needed. Use mulch to cover them if you live where the summers are sweltering.
pH level for Carrots: 5.5 – 7.0
2. Lettuce
Add the amendments above to the soil where you plant your lettuce seeds. The nice thing about lettuce is that it’s so easy to grow and sprouts up quickly. Just make sure the soil is loosened, loamy, and well-drained.
Lettuce loves nitrogen and potassium, so watch the leaves as they grow. Work in a lot of organic matter or compost. Lettuce matures in 55 to 60 days. Romaine takes longer, and so do head lettuce varieties.
Plant the seeds about 1/4 inch deep, tamp them in the soil, and water them. Easy and simple. Read the package to space according to the lettuce variety you choose. Seeds will not germinate in soils above 80 degrees F. or warmer.
You can start some seeds indoors and transplant the seedlings into a shady spot if the weather is too hot outside when starting. You may want to choose heat-resistant varieties if you live where the temperatures get very hot in the summer.
It’s better to pick early than late because the leaves become bitter.
pH level for Lettuce: 6.0 – 7.0
3. Radishes
I like the radish called Red Champion because they are larger and have bright red skin. They grow in small areas, and the days to maturity are 25-30 days.
Another one I like is called Pink Beauty because the white flesh is crisp and mild. They grow well in pots or containers. Their days to maturity are 25-30 as well.
I sprinkle the seeds over the soil, do a slight soil coverup, and sprinkle with water. If you stagger the planting days, you will have several days of freshly picked radishes when it’s time to harvest.
pH level for Radishes: 6.0 – 7.0
4. Spinach
I plant New Zealand spinach seeds because they can withstand the heat of Southern Utah. It’s a large growing plant, but I make salads and smoothies and freeze a lot of spinach for the year.
This spinach variety grows from spring to fall without any issues. The more I cut it back, the more it grows. It takes 75 days to mature.
Again, ensure your soil has the amendments above, and you need to turn over the soil repeatedly. Plant the seeds at least one foot apart and the rows two feet apart.
pH level for Spinach: 6.0 – 7.5
How Do I Keep My Vegetables From Freezing?
You’ll more than likely need some way to protect your vegetables when the weather begins to dip and freeze possibly. I have used these over seedlings and individual plants in the winter. Garden Cloches
Please Check Out What To Plant Each Month:
- What To Plant In January
- What To Plant In February
- What To Plant In March
- What To Plant In April
- What To Plant In May
- What To Plant In June
- What To Plant In July
- What To Plant In August
- What To Plant In September
- What To Plant In October
Final Word
This will be my first year to try growing year-round with a few vegetables. I want to get to where I only eat the lettuce from my backyard or in my Aerogarden indoors. In case you missed this post: Growing Fresh Lettuce Indoors Year-Round
Let me know what you plan to plant in August. We can do this, my friends, I promise. May God bless this world, Linda
Oh how I miss Utah! I had to move to Tennessee. I do still have family there. My father always has a beautiful garden. To be honest I forgot about fall plantings. I might try some things in a few containers. I really don’t have the room for a real garden. I generally leave that up to my son in law. He always has a beautiful garden. Unfortunately this year while on vacation the deer got to most of it!!
Thank you for your wonderful articles. Have a fantastic day!
Hi Jane, I have been to Tennessee once! It was so lush and beautiful! Containers work great! Happy Wednesday! Linda
My family grew up in Utah and moved to Tennessee. They are slowly migrating back to Utah. Myself I’m in Idaho. I want to do a victory garden. I’m not a well person so may have to just finance it and have volunteers work it. I’m not sure how to go about it But I’m doing research.
Hi Debra, if you can get the word out, and you have the land I bet there will be a lot of good people that would love to help you grow food for you and for their families. It’s so fun growing our own food. I hope you find a family or two. Linda
Planting in august = planting myself in a chair and not dying of heatstroke
We are turning critters out into the garden this week. Let them eat what’s left and the corn I planted for them and leave us some compost for next year.
Hi Matt, that sounds great, the heat is so bad this year. We either had heat stoke here or flooding. I bet your animals will have a heyday eating the leftover garden stuff! I love it! Linda
I’m with Matt, though near the end of the month, or maybe in early September I’ll be planting lettuce, broccoli, beans and more cucumbers. My carrots tend to reseed themselves. I’m digging potatoes tomorrow morning early. Still waiting on my melons–the few that survived the July heat–to ripen.
Hi Ray, it’s crazy weather here, extreme heat and then flooding. We have had houses sliding down the hillsides. I can’t wait to get my hand in the earth next year, as you know we are still in building mode. SLOW, foundation, that’s it. You know Ray, where you live you have extreme heat like Matt as well. I love hearing what you pick for dinner! It means so much to me to hear how people raise food in their gardens and animals as well. Life is good. Linda
Linda, I’ve been picking tomatoes, apples and banana peppers most recently. The peppers and tomatoes go in salads and sandwiches and the apples are going to anyone who wants them, though I’m canning apple pie filling like crazy. Right now I have 3 heaping bushels of apples in my fridge and on the countertop awaiting gifting or processing. Lots of work but Jane and I will have apple pie filling for the next few years.
I keep thinking I should dehydrate some apple rings with cinnamon sugar, but I already have plenty.
HI Ray, you know I love hearing about what you are growing and harvesting. It’s a blessing when we have a bumper crop of anything. I can picture the pie filling quarts lined up! Oh and the smell of pie filling, oh my gosh! I’ve never grown banana peppers, that’s awesome! Linda
Linda,
I like sweet peppers and banana or Marconi peppers are even sweeter than the California Wonder or Yolo Wonder Bell peppers I also grow. The banana peppers are very good either when they are yellow or later when they turn red. I like sauteeing them with onions for Philly Cheesesteak sandwiches. They are also great on pizza.
HI Ray, oh my gosh, you got me at the Philly Cheesesteak! My mouth is watering! I want my garden again, hopefully next year. They poured the concrete today for the garage. Oh, yeah, on pizza! YUMMY! Linda
Off topic but important sort of:
I have no takers on the canning jars and I finally gave away the 13 buckets with lids.
I got an on sale/free shipping freezer and the delivery guy said it was the second like this one today and other truck had 2 to deliver.
Sooo, either frugal shoppers are taking advantage or someone’s stocking up or like me–BOTH!!!.
Christ is King.
HI JayJay, oh man, thank you for sharing this! My house is still being built, I hope I can get a freezer in 6 months. Oh, and a washer and dryer, stove, refrigerator, and a dishwasher. I keep seeing some in stock and most are out of stock. I can’t buy anything right now, because there is zero space to store the stuff. Thanks for the tip on the freezers, I will stroll through some store. Thank you, Linda
Linda,
Have they even started framing your house yet? Seems like it was weeks ago when you mentioned they poured your house foundation.
Since this is the first growing season I have experienced in Wyoming, I certainly feel like a total failure!! My landlord gave me the compost and soil to fill my raised bed garden. NOT ONE SEED germinated!! No carrots, no herbs, nothing! I did grow some potatoes in grow bags and they are still alive but none of the seeds I planted came up. So, this fall, I am going to dig out the soil/compost and mix in some store bought raised bed soil.
My thoughts are this: I am not used to the temperatures at this elevation (I was at sea level and much more moderate temps in Washington); I think the compost is too hot??; perhaps there is too much clay in the soil?
I am not going to worry right now with fall planting until I have a chance to amend the soil/compost. I am also going to get a good soaker hose to keep the bed watered (it is 8′ X 12′ so not a huge garden). My plan initially was to grown spring veggies and replant this fall but I definitely need to “fix” the soil before investing in more seed sowing!!
Hi Leanne, oh my gosh I would love an 8′ X 12′ raised garden. That’s a good size! It must be the compost or the seeds. It does take a year or two to get used to the soil and temps in new areas. Not one sprout is weird, right? That’s so frustrating!!! If the soil had to much clay, I had the worst experience with clay soil in Southern Utah. It took a couple years to get it up to par. Yay for the potatoes! Ask your local garden nursery what is need to amend the soil. I always get earthworm casings, and vermiculate to keep the soil from drying out. Now that I’m back up north, I hope its easier to garden. I won’t make it this year, the whole yard is torn up. Hopefully next spring. Linda
Love your reply to my comment! My 13 year old grandson built mine!!
I will take your advice and talk to the people at the local nursery. I want to get the soil amended this fall so it is ready for next spring. I also need to make some sort of cover for it because we can get some “epic” hailstorms!!
Hi Leanne, oh that grandson is amazing, I forgot you mentioned that once!! Those “epic” hailstorms are bad!! Linda