Zone 10 - What to Plant in September

Zone 10 - What to Plant in September

September is one of the best months to start gardening in Zone 10. You're just past the dog days of summer and the weather is starting to cool down a bit. The typical first frost in Zone 10 is mid-late December but even then it can be very mild. This allows for easy winter growing of several crops. Below is a list of items that can be planted in zone 10 in September.

The Blue Shelling Pea is a Dutch heirloom blue podded pea that has been highly regarded for hundreds of years. This very versatile variety can be picked young and eaten raw as a colorful snow pea pod or left to swell and harvested as a plump pea for cooking. This pea plant produces lovely purple flowers with a faint scent that are also edible and delicious! Traditionally used as a winter dish, Blue Shelling would be soaked overnight and then pan fried with onions and bacon - yum! Give this 6' plant some support.

The Rondo Pea is a wrinkle-seeded variety that produces great yields of long, uniform pods that contain around 10 little plump peas per pod. This stocky, dark green pea is hardy and shows good resistance to Fusarium Wilt. This favorite has a delicious sweet flavor that can't be beat! The Rondo is perfect for freezing for soups and stews but is also amazing when eaten freshly picked!

The Marvel of Four Seasons is a French butterhead lettuce with bibb-type rosette leaves. This butterhead, also known as Merveille des Quatre Saisons, is tasty and beautiful. The Marvel of Four Seasons has a robust shape with leaves ranging in bronze, gold, red and green.

The White Stem cabbage or Bok Choy is a great tasting cabbage that is enjoyed cooked or raw. Bok Choy is a Chinese white cabbage. Bok Choy is grown for its stalks which are used in different oriental dishes. Can be grown as a spring and/or fall crop.

The White Icicle Radish is an heirloom white variety that has a warm, mild flavor. The shoulders where the radish protrudes above the ground should be green, although there is a variant with purple shoulders. This radish variety is excellent for the home garden or fresh market.

The German Extra Hardy garlic is a prolific producer of long rooted garlic that can store in the ground throughout winter. This variety has pale white skin with dark red cloves. The German Extra Hardy has a strong raw flavor and high sugar content, making it one of the very best for roasting. Hardneck, 4-7 cloves per bulb.

The Bronze Mignonette has been a popular heirloom lettuce for over 100 years! This variety is a heat tolerant lettuce that is slow bolting. Bronze Mignette gets its name for having a bronze tint. The lettuce heads reach 8" across with crumply, crisp leaves. This variety looks and tastes in salads and on sandwiches.

The Sparkler Radish is a bright scarlet colored radish with a sweet, juicy flesh and snappy flavor. This variety's scarlet skin fades to white on lower 1/3 of its round, to round oval bulb. This radish's medium tops are perfect for both home and market gardens. Sparkler can grow up to 1.5" diameter.

The Santa Fe Lettuce produces a small blanched head that is surrounded by green outer leaves with a tinged bronze-red tip. This variety is a favorite for being extra crunchy!

Bobcat is a high producing fresh-market variety that has long storage life. Excellent flavor and good resistance to disease. Due to its high yield potential, Bobcat is suitable for coleslaw production.

Nothing says "spring" like the crisp taste of a homegrown Easter Egg Radish! This variety is a bright color blend of red, white, rose pink, purple, and bi-color (red top, white bottom) that is perfect for salads and relish trays. At the harvest time, you can have your own "Easter Egg hunt" for the most colorful radish! After the harvest, you can eat them fresh in salads or slice and add them to sandwiches for a bit of crunch and color.

The Lutz Green Leaf Pink Stem Beet is a beautiful reddish purple variety that has a delicious tender, sweet flavor that tastes amazing roasted. This beet is known for having huge glossy, deep green tops that are absolutely mouth watering! This variety is a "winterkeeper" beet that has a long standing storage capability. The Lutz Green Leaf Pink Stem has 6 inches in diameter roots, make sure to thin them out to 4-6 inches.

Just like its name, the Jambalaya Okra is the perfect okra for making jambalaya! This variety produces dark green, smaller and more tender pods! This okra is an extra-early maturing variety that boasts a very compact plant with small leaves. Jambalaya offers high yields of very uniform, shiny, dark green pods.

The Snow Crown cauliflower is a delicious, mild and sweet hybrid. This cauliflower's head will get to 7-8 inches across and 1-2 pounds. The Snow Crown is extra early and adaptable and can be harvested in summer or fall. Be careful not to under-fertilize or water, stress can cause a purplish discoloration on the undersides of the head.

The Purple Plum is an amazing purple skinned radish with a crisp, mild and sweet white flesh! This unique radish is different from the "typical" radish coloring. This small round shaped radish is early to harvest, which makes it great for home and market growers. Purple Plum is a nice variety to blend with other colors in mixes!

Crunchy Royale is a dark red, round radish ideal for bunching or cello pack. It yields high quality and extremely uniform roots. Overall, Crunchy Royale offers excellent internal and external color and a high pack-out rate for growers.

The Vitaverde cauliflower, or "broccoflower," is the famous cross of broccoli and cauliflower! The Vitaverde broccoflower grows up to 1 pound. This hybrid has a vibrant green head, is heat tolerant and cooks fast with a mild sweet taste.

Green Ice is a crispy loose-leaf lettuce that does well in hot weather! This variety produces an abundance of crunchy loose leaves. Green Ice's leaves are curled with deep green color. This lettuce is ready in just 45 days, it is among the earliest, yet will last well into summer thanks to its superior heat tolerance. Green Ice is one loose-leaf that just won't bolt!