September might feel like the end of the growing season, but it’s the ideal time to give your vegetable patch some attention.
'Autumn is the perfect time to start off winter crops such as garlic, onions, shallots and leafy greens like chard and kale,' suggests Mervyn Montgomery, director of Hampton Greenhouses. 'These hardy growers don’t mind the colder conditions and will give you fresh food even as the days get shorter.'
Many gardeners stop planting once August is over, but some vegetables actually thrive in the cooler nights and milder weather that follow. Planting them now can extend this year’s harvest while giving you a head start next spring,
With that in mind, here are seven vegetables to plant in September.
1. Garlic
Garlic is one of the easiest crops to start in September – and needs very little attention once planted. Prepare the soil by digging it over and adding a general-purpose fertiliser, then pop the bulbs in with a trowel, spacing them about 15cm apart.
'Plant one clove per hole with the fat end pointing downwards and the tip 2.5cm below the surface of the soil. Protect the young plants by filling the holes and covering them with fleece. Water regularly when it's dry. Flower spikes should be removed,' advise the experts at British Garden Centres.
By next summer, each will have divided into a full bulb, full of taste and flavour.
Garlic grows best in a sunny spot with well-drained soil, so avoid areas where water tends to collect. If your garden has heavy or clay soil, plant it in raised beds or pots filled with free-draining compost.
Tip: Look for hardneck garlic in your local garden centre, as this tends to resist cold better.
2. Spinach
Spinach is perfectly suited to the cooler days of September, rewarding you with tender young leaves in just a few weeks. In mild parts of the UK, it will keep cropping well into winter, pausing only in the harshest cold.
Keep spinach consistently moist without allowing the soil to become waterlogged. Before sowing, enrich the soil with plenty of compost and space the seeds around 5cm apart, leaving 30cm between each row.
Once seedlings appear, thin them out so that the strongest plants are left with about 10cm of space each.
It's best to start sowing in small batches every couple of weeks. That way, you don’t end up with more spinach than you can eat all at once. Harvesting the outer leaves regularly keeps the plant producing fresh growth. For smaller spaces, you can grow spinach in containers, but they'll need more frequent watering.
3. Broad beans
Plant broad beans in September and they’ll settle in before winter, rewarding you with an earlier – and often more abundant – harvest than those sown in spring. For autumn sowing, try varieties like "Aquadulce Claudia" or "Super Aquadulce". Plant seeds about 5cm deep, leaving 20cm between plants and 60cm between rows.
Choose a sunny, sheltered spot in your garden, as beans dislike strong winds, and cover young plants with fleece or a cloche in particularly colder temperatures.
As broad beans get taller, they'll benefit from support with canes or string. Pinching out the growing tips when plants reach about a metre tall helps them branch out more and also discourages black fly, a common spring pest.
4. Purple sprouting broccoli
When planted in autumn, purple sprouting broccoli will grow happily outdoors throughout winter for a delicious spring harvest. 'Mix in general-purpose compost, horticultural sand and stone or potting grit to ensure good drainage,' say the experts at British Garden Centres. It should be ready to harvest by February — the perfect early spring treat.
5. Kale
Sow kale in early autumn so the plants can establish before the cold sets in. As hardy brassicas, they’ll keep producing leaves right through to winter, provided temperatures aren’t too severe. Harvest the outer leaves regularly, and the plant will continue to send up fresh growth — and it will bounce back readily again in early spring.
6. Cabbage
Sow spring cabbages now for delicious homegrown greens early next year. Transplant young plants into fertile, deep, alkaline soil enriched with organic matter. Water well in dry weather and harvest once they form compact, firm heads.
7. Radishes and Turnips
'Look out for fast-maturing winter radishes and turnips that can be sown in September,' say the experts at British Garden Centres. 'These generally produce a quick crop before severe cold sets in, and in sheltered areas with a fleece covering, you may even be able to keep picking throughout the season.'
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