In this YouTube tutorial, Nicole Johnsey Burke explains how to turn September into a productive planting month regardless of climate. She first introduces a simple three‑point frost‑date system (1 = first frost in Dec/Jan or none, 2 = first frost in Oct/Nov, 3 = first frost in Aug/Sept) and asks viewers to identify their zone. For each zone she provides a curated list of fast‑growing, frost‑tolerant vegetables, herbs, and flowers that can be sown in September and harvested through fall and winter. Zone 1 (late frost) – parsley (biennial), mizuna, kale, bush beans, cucumbers, zinnias, broccoli (started from mature plants). Zone 2 (mid‑season frost) – dill, Swiss chard (biennial), beets, sugar snap peas (or fava beans), calendula (trap crop & pest protector). Zone 3 (early frost) – cilantro, spring‑mix lettuce, spinach, carrots, Toscano/Dinosaur kale. She emphasizes practical tactics: sow seeds under existing tall plants to use shade, plant densely to cover soil, use frost cloths or cold frames for extra protection, and consider companion planting with pest‑deterring calendula. Nicole also promotes a free seed set, a workshop for beginners, and the idea of adding a native‑plant garden to support wildlife and protect crops. The overall message is that September can be a hopeful, productive time for gardeners everywhere if they match plant choices to their frost timing and employ simple season‑extension techniques.
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Everyone assumes that September is only for harvesting in the garden, but every time I pull something out of my garden, I'm planting a new thing in its place. And after you watch this video, you're going to know 5 things that you should plant in your own garden in the month of September, no matter where you live. But don't plant a thing until you find out if you're a 1, a 2, or a 3. You're a 1 if your first frost date happens in December or January, or you don't even have a first frost date. You're a 2 if your first frost date happens in October or November, and you're a 3 if your first frost date happens in August or in September. Now, Tell us in the comments which number you are, and then I'll give you a planting list for every single one. For my number 1s, I know August and September are probably the last moments that you want to go out to the garden. I know that was the case when I lived in Houston, Texas. I used to say my depression months in other places was like January, February, but when I lived in Houston, honestly, I was depressed in the fall because I was just waiting and waiting for the temps to cool down, and it takes quite a long time. So this is a little trick that you can do in your garden to give you something to look forward to and also that you can just literally slip out into the garden early in the morning, late in the afternoon, stick these seeds underneath your tall plants, and you will start to enjoy your garden again, I promise, around October or November. So the first thing to put into your garden is some parsley. Parsley is what we call a biennial herb, meaning it wants to stay in the garden for at least 2 years, and in your area, you could have parsley year-round forever. So if you start the parsley right now, you'll get it all the way through the winter, and then you'll enjoy it for several years more in your garden after you plant it. Definitely worth the work. Next up is mizuna. This is a peppery green. It kind of resembles arugula, but it's a little bit more like a mustard. It's really beautiful. The colors are stunning. It's a great fall green, and I know if you're like I was in Texas, you're tired of eating grocery store greens because your garden has been just too hot, but this is a green that you can enjoy right away. It'll grow up and be ready to harvest in like 35 days. Next up is kale. If you haven't had this in your garden through the summer, kale is also a biennial. It's great to start from seed, or you can start it with a plant from a local nursery. This can be tucked under the tall plants in your garden right now, and you're going to be eating from these seeds all winter long if you get them in the ground right now. Next up are bush beans. I love this as an easy filler throughout a hot climate garden. These are going to come and fruit for you probably around 60 to 65 days from planting, so if you put them in September, you're going to have bush beans at the end of October. It's surprising how many beans you have to plant in order to get a big enough harvest to actually have a meal with it. So plant a ton in all your empty spaces. It'll cover your soil, and it'll also give you a nice side dish for all your fall meals. And then also adding a little bit of cucumber is absolutely worth it. Cucumbers are ready to harvest in 55 to 60 days. You've still got tons of days of warmth, sunshine, all that you need to grow these cucumbers. So stick them in, and when the rest of the country is dying for something fresh from the garden, you're going to be making pickles. Also, if you wanna add a little bit of color to your garden, zinnias are a great flower that you can put by seed right now into the garden. You'll have flowers by October. We have these for free in our free seed set if you wanna grab them. I'll link them right below this video. And one little bonus for you— you have so many things to plant, my friends— is some broccoli. You could start this indoors or grab some plants from the local nursery. These are gonna grow for you all through the coldest parts of the year, but you need to start with a mature plant. So if you wanna grow your own broccoli, Start these indoors right now. Now let's move on to number 2. If you're in number 2, this means you're feeling very in between right now. You probably have some days where it feels really warm like summer, and then you're going to have some days where it feels really cold like winter is on its way. So this is a time to get as many seeds into the garden in September so you can guarantee yourself a harvest before the end of November. One thing I love to put into the fall garden is dill seed. Dill loves cool season weather. It loves it when the temps are in the 60s, 70s. It won't go to seed nearly as quickly, It's beautiful in the fall garden, the little fronds at the top. It's just lovely. So stick this by seed in the garden in any of your empty spaces, and you're going to have tons of flavoring for all your fall dishes right from the garden. Swiss chard is also one of my favorite fall greens. It's also what we call a biennial, meaning it wants to stay in the garden for 2 years. If you're in a place that has frost but it's kind of mild, you don't get heavy snow or ice, your Swiss chard might make it all the way through winter. This is definitely worth giving it some real estate in your garden space. Next up are beets. These are so good through the fall season. There's nothing like a roasted beet in the middle of October or November, and you can get your own within 60 to 70 days from planting just seed right into the dirt right now. It's a perfect time to fill your garden with beet seeds. And for your trellises, it's great to grow some sugar snap peas. You can also do fava beans, but sugar snaps will get you a harvest faster. These should get you some peas within 60 to 75 days. These are also part of our free seed campaign, so if you want to get some for free, just add shipping. I'll put a link right below this video. These you need to plant a lot. I mean a lot, a lot. It's always shocking to me how many seeds I need to plant just to get a bowl full of peas, so plant more than you think you need. And then finally, calendula. This is one of my favorite cool season pest protectors. Calendula is known as a trap crop. The leaves and the stems are kind of sticky. Aphids will stick to them. These are perfect to plant alongside all your greens, especially your Swiss chard and your dill, and also they're They're beautiful. You can make teas and tinctures with them. It's a win-win. You might be watching this video and thinking, but I don't even have a garden set up yet, Nicole, or worse, I have a garden set up, but I don't like it. And just for you, I created a workshop that shows you how to go from grass to garden this season. You can watch the whole thing right below this video. Now let's move on to number 3. If you're a 3, I'm so glad you're watching this video right now because you have got to hurry. You have frost That's already come in August or frost that's coming this month, so it's important to get your seeds in the ground ASAP. Now, the good news to know is that all the things I'm going to show you to grow, they are frost tolerant. They don't mind frost, and so they can be growing and thriving in your garden even if there's getting frost every single night. So you can still get these in the garden and still have great harvests all the way through the rest of the fall. In my Chicago garden, I was still harvesting all the way up until December. December, so you can do it too. First up is cilantro. This is a green that absolutely loves the cool weather. A lot of people see this on the store shelves in like July with tomatoes, and it hates July weather. It loves November weather. So cilantro is a great seed to get in the ground right now. Plant it below your tall plants, and even if you don't get a lot of cilantro right now, those seeds will kind of lay dormant through the snow or whatever kind of ice you get, and then as soon as your soil warms up in the spring, you're going to get cilantro growing in your It's the very best thing. So cilantro by seed is a must. Next up is this spring mix. This is what turned me into a gardener. I had never had success with any kind of plant, and when I planted spring mix lettuce, I had profound success, prolific success. I was harvesting every single day from the garden. So this will replace those little boxes you buy at the grocery, and this stuff loves cool weather. Plant it now under your tall plants, and then you can cover it up with some frost cloth if frost is coming. It doesn't like a hard ice, but it can deal with temperatures dropping low. In fact, it gets sweeter. This is also part of our free seed set, so that link will be down there below. Also in the free seed set is spinach. If you don't grow any other green throughout the coolest part of the year where you live, you have to grow spinach. It loves the coolest weather. It's so good for you. It's almost like Mother Nature knows what it's doing because spinach is full of nutrients that our bodies need to fight off cold and flu, and it thrives when it's cold outside. Go figure. Next up are carrots. These love cooler weather. You have to get them in the ground right now by seed. These are going to start To grow, you need to keep them well watered every single day, and carrots actually love it when the temperatures are below 65 degrees as they're high, and they also don't mind a frost. But as soon as the carrots start to grow, you get carrot tops, you can tell the roots are starting to grow. If you're going to have a heavy frost or heavy ice or snow, it's a good idea to cover these with frost cloth and/or even add a cold frame. Pulling a carrot in the middle of a snowstorm is one of the most magical things, and you can do it if you get the seeds planted right now. Speaking of magical, it's having tons of greens, making your own green smoothies, all kinds of casseroles and salads from the garden all through the fall into the winter, and you can do it if you plant Toscano kale. This is a very Savoy kale, meaning that the leaves are extremely bumpy, and that bumpiness actually gives these plants a tolerance for frost unlike other greens. So if you grow any green in the garden during the cool season, You want to grow Toscano kale. Dinosaur kale is another name for it. Put the seeds in the soil or put a plant from a local nursery. You're going to have kale that you can harvest all the way through, even when there's frost, even when there's snow. I have photos from my Chicago garden where the Toscano kale is huge, and it's just completely covered in snow and not fazed a bit. So start these by seed or plant right now. You can thank me in December. September is not just a great time to add all these veggies to your garden. It's also a wonderful time to put a native plant garden in your space. This is going to protect all your veggies from pests and create a home for wildlife, and I just made a video where I show you how to make it super beautiful so you actually love the way it looks too, and you can watch the step-by-step to do that right here.
