What To Plant In August-Zones 1-10

What To Plant In August

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Have you been wondering what to plant in August? Can you believe the price of groceries? They just keep going up. It’s critical we plant a garden and produce at least some of our food, and 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

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 own outdoor thermometers.

We can do this, I promise. Whether you have acres, a small lot like mine, or pots, you can produce some of your own food.

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 the past few years. I purchase all of my garden seeds from this company: SeedsNow

I highly recommend these for seedlings: CowPots and Organic Seedling Soil, this way you plant your seeds and place the CowPots in your garden when the temperatures are right.

It’s getting extremely hot here in Southern Utah, so I’ll have to be diligent to keep my seeds wet, not soggy, so they’ll germinate. My goal is to grow some vegetables throughout the late fall and winter.

Yes, I’ll have to cover my raised garden beds to protect them from freezing, eventually. Check here to find your 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

Garden Seed Container

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.

The first thing we need to do is pull any weeds that have come up since the last time you turned over the soil.

Dig out any leftover crops that you may have missed the last time you harvested. Turn the soil several times and add the following amendments, if you need them:

Azomite Micronized Bag, 44 lb

Organic Coco Coir Block

Earthworm Castings Organic

Organic Bone Meal

Organic Vermiculite

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.

Read More of My Articles  What is Core Gardening?

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 and 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 in each month based on my own zone, but in this section, I want to share with you the different plants you can grow in each zone. If you don’t know what zone you live in, you can find it here.

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 there are still a number of veggies you can plant. 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 really smooth, loamy soil with nutrients added as shown above. I like to moisten the soil slightly and 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.

If you live where the heat is intense, be careful 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 extremely hot.

Read More of My Articles  Tips For Growing Sweet Tomatoes

pH level for Carrots: 5.5 – 7.0

2. Lettuce

Add the amendments above to the soil where you will plant your lettuce seeds. The nice thing about lettuce is it’s so easy to grow and sprouts up pretty fast. Just make sure the soil is loosened, loamy, and well-drained.

Lettuce loves nitrogen and potassium, so keep your eye on the leaves as they start to grow. Work in a lot of organic matter or compost. Lettuce matures in 55 to 60 days. Romaine takes longer to mature, and so do head lettuce varieties.

Plant the seeds about 1/4 inch deep, tamp them in the soil, and water them in. 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 out. 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 over time.

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 really well in pots or containers. Their days to maturity are 25-30 as well.

I just 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 is one spinach variety that grows from spring to fall without any issues. The more I cut it back the more it grows, literally. Days to maturity are 75 days.

Here again, make sure your soil has the amendments above and you need to turn over the soil again and again. 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. Large Garden Cloches

Please Check Out What To Plant Each Month:

Final Word

This will be my first year to try growing year-round with a few vegetables. I want to get to the point I only eat the lettuce from my backyard or in my Aerogarden indoors.

Let me know what you plan to plant in August. We can do this, my friends, I promise. May God bless this world, Linda

Similar Posts

15 Comments

  1. 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!

  2. 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.

    1. 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

  3. 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.

    1. 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

  4. 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.

    1. 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

  5. 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.

    1. 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

  6. 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.

    1. 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

  7. 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.

    1. 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

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *