September Organic Gardening in Central Texas

“Are we there yet?” -Me, anticipating the end of another hot Texas summer.

The official equinox happens later in September, but depending on how my mood is (and what state my garden is in), I may get the itch to plant for fall even in late August.

Here are 4 tips to planning your fall garden:

1) Fall is all about seeds. If you ever use seeds directly in your garden, fall is the time to do it. You obvisouly get more for the money buying seeds ($3/plant or $3 for 100 seeds), but also, your harvest per plant is much less. While a spring tomato plant may give you 30-100 tomatoes, one fall spinach plant will give you 1-3 harvests. Much better off buying seeds!

2) Most cool-season plants enjoy 85 degree air temps to germinate from seed, so depending on the year, that can mean late August, or even November. So there’s no perfect time. However, September is the unofficial month to start.

3) We do not have a typical “cold” season here in Texas the way the northern parts of the US does. So there’s no “rest” season and we can grow all year! Our “Fall” season really lasts for about 6 months (Sept-March), going right into winter. In fact, I normally refer to this season as “cool” season, rather than the fall or fall/winter, because what you are planning for, planting, growing and harvesting, will truly continue until March!

4) For specific plant varieties to consider ordering from seed, check out my Fall Garden Guide here where you can order directly from the links on that page.

What to Plant in Your Texas Fall Garden in September

From Seed:

September is a great month to start seeds directly in your raised bed garden. And many cool-season kitchen garden crops should ONLY be planted as seed. Go ahead and drop in your first round of carrots, radish, beets and turnups now. Onion seeds should wait a bit longer. And when I say “first round,” that’s because with each plant providing only one, you will want to sow seeds of these every 2-4 weeks for a continual harvest through March.

From Transplants:

Transplants will still be hard to find at the nursery, it’s a bit early. Some garden centers may start having the brassicas: collards, kale, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower and brussels sprouts, which are all good choices to plant in September. The herbs are another thing to look out for this month. All of the perennial herbs can be planted now, which is plenty of time for them to establish healthy roots before the harder freezes kick in. Herbs such as rosemary, mint, chives, garlic, oregano, thyme, marjoram, sage, and sorrel can all be planted now. You may also find the cool-loving (and heat-disliking) herbs such as parsley and cilantro as well.

Other September Garden To-Dos:

Wildflower seeds, such as the beautiful bluebonnet, should be planted in September for germination and growth next spring.

Plant new trees in the fall

Fall is also ideal for most new plantings of all landscape perennials.

Continue using liquid seaweed/molasses every 2-3 weeks on your garden for stronger roots and better cold tolerance. This will also help control the spider mites as we still have a bit of heat to look forward to.

Provide for songbirds and other wildlife to encourage continued biodiversity that your kitchen garden will benefit from. Food and water are scarce at this dry end to the summer season.

And if you want some garden coaching for clarity this fall, check out the LIVE virtual events coming up and register before it fills up! Learn more about that by clicking here.

Happy growing!