What I Sow in My Vegetable Garden in August

August is an interesting and busy time in a vegetable garden, as many readers will no doubt be well aware. Most of your attention is likely to be on harvesting and tending the summer crops.

For most temperate climate growers, the primary seed-sowing time is the spring. But it is important, if you want to grow year-round, to continue sowing throughout the rest of the growing season.

While there is usually a lull around midsummer, I sow more crops for autumn, winter, and the following spring while the current summer is very much still in full flow. I am in Scotland and can continue to sow right up into September in the polytunnel and sometimes even beyond.

Many of the crops that will overwinter outside in my garden have already been sown in July—such as some brassicas, for example. And some overwintering crops, like peas and beans, winter onions, and garlic, will not be sown until autumn arrives, in September or October. But here's what I have or will sow in my vegetable garden this August—mostly in my polytunnel garden:

Lettuce & Other Leafy Greens

Cut-and-Come Again Lettues, Land Cress, Chards, Endives, Radicchio

The great thing about many lettuce varieties, especially cut-and-come-again varieties, is that they can provide a very quick crop. Some sown in August can be ready to harvest in only a month or so, making them available for autumn and winter eating. This month, I often fill gaps in the summer garden with quick crops of lettuce or other quick leafy greens.

Longer-term lettuces can also be sown this month for winter or early spring harvesting. And land cress, chards/perpetual spinach, and endives/radicchio, are other hardier winter greens that I sow through later summer and into fall for harvests through the colder months in my polytunnel.

Brassicas

Kale, Broccoli, Tatsoi, Pak Choi, Mizuna, and More

Not mentioned above are many other leafy vegetables belonging to the cabbage or brassica plant family. But brassicas are, where I live, staples of the winter garden. And they are in many other locations too. This group of plants offers a range of options for cool season/winter growing.

I sowed kale outdoors last month. Kale can be eaten while they are small over the autumn or overwintered for a staple and hardy winter crop. Purple sprouting broccoli is another favorite of mine, already in place in my garden for a crop next spring.

Now, my attention turns to a number of Asian brassica varieties. I will continue to sow a wide range this month and next in my polytunnel, including tatsoi, pak choi, mizuna, mibuna, various mustard greens, and more.

Alliums

Bunching Onions, Scallions, Spring Onions

Many gardeners will sow onion sets and garlic sets in autumn for overwintering. But before that, I like to turn my attention to sowing salad onions for a winter or spring harvest. Onions grown for their greens are easier to grow from seed than bulb-forming ones.

These onions are not just grown for their edible yield. One of the other main reasons that I like to make sure I sow some this month is that they make a great companion crop for other winter crops or overwintering species. They are helpful with their pungent aroma in organic pest control.

Radishes

French Breakfast, Red Globe, Black Spanish, Daikon

Radishes are sown little and often throughout the growing season, and as long as they get enough water, they work very well in my polytunnel garden. Other root crop sowing season is done where I live. I typically succession sow the last of the carrots and beets in July in my polytunnel. I also tend to sow turnips before the end of July. But radishes of various kinds can still be sown this month.

I sow French breakfast and red globe radishes throughout the summer, but in August, my attentions turn to black Spanish radishes, and daikon radishes, both of which I sow sometime between July and September in my polytunnel.

Keep sowing in August, and this can help you to transition from summer into the following seasons and develop a garden that won't just feed you and your family in summer but all year round.