9 crops you can plant in August for fall and winter harvest

yu.can · August 2019

For those of us in zone 4 to 7 August is our most important month for fall and winter planting.

Brassica or Cole Crops

The first of the crops you can plant in August is actually a whole family! Plants in the Cole or brassica family are perfect crops you can plant in August. Broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, kohlrabi, and Brussels sprouts all do very well in the fall. One very important thing to keep in mind is that you plant all of these plants from seedlings NOT SEED’s.

Kale

All types of Kale actually belong to the brassica family as well, but it is a very different beast and deserves its own spot on this list. Kale is one of the hardiest plants you can grow in the fall and winter. In fact, if you live in a zone 5b or above you can get kale to overwinter in your garden with just the protection of a piece of heavy row cover.

Lettuce

Lettuce will be one of your most abundant crops in the fall and early winter. In fact, I love growing lettuce better in the fall than the spring. Lettuce is fairly hardy, so moderate frost and cold night time temps are really not a big deal. And the biggest difference with fall lettuce is you are not fighting the impending heat of summer which causes tip burn and bitterness.

Chinese greens

Chinese greens are next on the list of crops you can plant in August. These are also technically part of the brassica family. But again they deserve there own spot on the list.