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Fall Vegetable Garden for Beginners: What to Plant in August, September and October

The second season most beginners skip: greens, roots, garlic and a $20 row cover.

Updated 2026-09-11

Why fall is the easy season

Fewer pests, fewer weeds, cooler nights that sweeten greens and roots. Most beginners miss it because seed packets say "spring", and because the fall garden is sown in the heat of July and August while the spring bed is still full. Plan for it and one 4×8 bed feeds you from September to Thanksgiving, in many zones into January.

Count back from first frost

Take your first fall frost date and count back the days-to-maturity on the packet plus two weeks (growth slows as days shorten). The planting calendar shows the fall column once you enter a first-frost date.

Worked example for a first frost of October 15:

• Lettuce, 50 days + 14 = 64 days, so sow by August 12.
• Spinach, 45 days + 14 = 59 days, so sow by August 17, and it keeps producing after frost.
• Bush beans, 55 days + 14 = 69 days, so sow by August 7, and they must finish before the frost because they have no tolerance at all.

What to plant and how much cold it takes

Buy kale, broccoli and cabbage as transplants in late July or start them indoors in June; direct sowing in August is too late north of zone 7.

By month (zones 5–7; shift 2–3 weeks later in 8–9)

• Late July–August: broccoli, cabbage and kale transplants; direct sow beets, carrots, bush beans, chard.
• September: spinach, lettuce, arugula, radishes, turnips, Asian greens, cilantro. Sow every 10 days for a steady supply.
• October: garlic cloves (see when to plant garlic), mâche and spinach for overwintering, cover crops in any empty bed.

Zone differences

• Zones 3–4 (first frost mid-September): start in early July with quick greens, radishes and spinach; kale and carrots sown by July 10 carry into snow under cover.
• Zones 5–6 (first frost late September to mid-October): the schedule above as written.
• Zone 7 (first frost late October): everything above plus a second sowing of beets and carrots in early September.
• Zones 8–9 (first frost November or later): fall is the main season. Sow greens from late September through November; broccoli, cabbage and peas go in during October.
• Zone 10: no frost; the "fall" garden is a cool-season garden planted from October to January.

Sowing in August heat

Lettuce and spinach seed will not germinate in soil above about 80°F. Three fixes: sow in the evening and water twice a day until seedlings show; shade the row with a board until sprouts appear; or chill spinach seed in the fridge for a week first. Easier still, start lettuce in a tray indoors and transplant at three weeks; the seed-starting setup works the same in August as in March.

Pests that show up in fall

Cabbage worms and flea beetles find brassicas within days. Put a floating row cover over the bed the day you sow or transplant and leave it on; these crops need no pollination. Aphids on kale in October: a hard spray of water every few days.

Extending into winter

A floating row cover on hoops adds 4–6°F and keeps kale, spinach, carrots and leeks harvestable well past the first hard frosts. It costs about $20 and folds up for spring. In zones 6 and warmer, spinach, mâche and kale under cover give harvests all winter; in zones 4–5 they go dormant in December and restart in late February.

Clearing and feeding beds

Pull spent tomatoes and squash (compost only if disease-free), top the bed with 1–2 in of compost and leave it. Do not dig. Mulch bare soil with leaves, or sow oats as a cover crop in September; frost kills them and they protect the soil. More on the top-up in the raised bed soil guide.

Mistakes to skip

• Waiting for cool weather to sow. By then it is too late for anything but radishes.
• Sowing beans and squash in September in zones 5–7.
• Skipping the row cover and losing every brassica to cabbage worms.
• Letting an August seedbed dry out for one afternoon.

FAQ

When should I start a fall vegetable garden?

Six to ten weeks before your first fall frost, which is July to August in zones 3–7 and September to October in zones 8–10. Quick crops like radishes and arugula can go in as late as three to four weeks before frost.

Can I plant fall vegetables in the same bed as summer crops?

Yes. Sow greens in the gaps as soon as anything comes out, after an inch of compost, and tuck kale transplants at the sunny edge of the tomato bed in August.

Which fall vegetables survive a hard frost?

Kale, spinach, carrots, leeks, collards, mâche and Brussels sprouts shrug off temperatures in the teens. Lettuce, beets, broccoli and radishes handle light frosts down to about 26–28°F. Beans, squash and basil die at the first frost.

What is the easiest fall crop for a beginner?

Spinach. It germinates in cool soil, tolerates frost to 15°F, and a September sowing produces from October until the ground freezes and again in March.

What I'd buy first

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