Gardening Calendar: What I sow in August

I sow plenty of beets so that I can harvest the tasty leaves later in the season.

August is still very much a summer month in my garden, and the growing season is far from over. I live in zone 3 near Växjö in southern Sweden, where I can often grow vegetables outside until mid-November, as long as there is enough daylight. After that, growth slows down considerably.

The weather can change a lot during the months ahead, of course, but there is still plenty of time to sow. I would be so disappointed if I skipped my August sowings and missed out on fresh vegetables later in the season. Beet leaves are one of my favorites. The picture above shows beet leaves growing in my polytunnel in November.

Many of the vegetables already growing in my kitchen garden will keep producing for several more months. The seeds I sow in August will help fill empty spaces and give me new harvests later in the season.

What I sow in August:

Sow inside, plant in the beds outside later:

Cabbage turnip
Snow peas
Turnip
Daikon
Bok choy (Pak choi)
Arugula
Radish
Kale

Beds outside:
Welsh onion
Dill
Radish
Arugula 
Lamb's lettuce
Spinach
Lettuce
Summer carrot
Kale
Pea shoots

Sow inside, plant in the polytunnel later:
Lettuce
Beets
Lamb's lettuce
Purslane
Kale
Snow peas

I have plenty of new sowings and little plants that are waiting eagerly to get to their beds outside. I'm going to put a whole tray of nine different little kale varieties in new pots before I take them outside and to my polytunnel, and I have another tray of beets that I want to get out there as soon as possible. There's plenty of work left to be done. But also, a lot of food to eat! Sowing many times throughout the entire year gives me a long season and plenty of fresh vegetables.

The lettuce I decided to sow in August, growing in my beds outside in November.

Where should I put the new sowings?

I know that some of you might be wondering where on earth you're supposed to sow, the beds are usually full this time of the year. We usually get some extra space after I harvest the garlic, root vegetables, lettuce, and dill. Sow or plant in these empty spots! There will be more and more space as time goes on. I think it's a good idea to prepare by starting seeds indoors and planting the vegetables outside later.

What if I live far north?

There are plenty of vegetables you can sow in August and still harvest later in the season, even in northern regions. There is, for example, a radish variety called De dix-huit jours which is ready for harvest around 3 weeks after sowing. Some lettuce varieties grow very quickly, and cabbage too for that matter. Some of them might not grow very large though, but you can still get a lot of food when you have many of these tender little plants. So, get out there and start sowing!

You can sow lamb's lettuce in many different spots in your garden. You can harvest it during late fall, winter and even in spring.

Where can I get seeds?

August is a good time to look through the seed box and see what is missing for the next round of sowing. If you want to add several useful varieties at once, SeedsNow has a Fall/Winter Variety Pack with crops such as arugula, kale, lettuce, radish, spinach and scallions. You can see the full pack here: Fall and Winter Variety Pack

/Sara Bäckmo