Zone 3 - What to Plant in September

Zone 3 - What to Plant in September

Zone 3 growers typically don't have too many options to plant in September. With your first frost right around the corner theres not much hardy enough to withstand the cold weather thats coming. That being said, September is the perfect time to plant garlic and cover crops in your garden. Planting garlic in September will give it an early start come spring. Cover crops are good for naturally adding back nutrients to your garden. Below is a list of items that can be planted in zone 3 in September.

The Thoroughbred Barley is a widely adapted variety of barley that is high yielding, with a great straw strength and a high test weight. This grain is a good standing six-rowed barley. This variety is resistant to powdery mildew and barley yellow dwarf virus. Uses: Bees & Beneficial Insects, Erosion Control, Green Manure, Nitrogen Scavenger, No Till, Organic Matter (Biomass), Weed Suppression

Great way to fix nitrogen and add organic matter to the soil! A great mix of grass and legume cover crops. Hairy Vetch works well for nitrogen fixation while Rye adds organic matter and protects the less hardy vetch from winter damage. If planted in fall it comes back early spring with heavy growth. Cut right after it flowers and spring and till into soil. (75% Winter Rye / 25% Hairy Vetch) Seed Coverage: - 5 lbs covers 2,000-4,000 sqaure feet - 100 lbs covers 1-2 acres Uses: Deer Attractant, Green Manure, Nitrogen Fixation, No Till, Organic Matter (Biomass), Weed Suppression

The Jerry Oats is a grain that is a quick growing green manure that will kill off any winter weeds and will hold soil with a mat of vegetation! This high yielding oat can produce over 100 bushels per acre. This grain variety is great for garlic beds and other vegetables. The oats stay green into November and form a mulched bed for spring planting. The Jerry Oats are also great for underseeding with a legume. Uses: Erosion prevention, Green Manure, Nitrogen Scavenger, No Till, Organic Matter, Weed Suppresion

The Common Buckwheat is a grain that can be planted late spring to early summer and improves top soil and an effective choke weed! This variety establishes quickly and matures in 60 days. This buckwheat accumulates phosphorus and and potassium for following crops and is frost sensitive. Buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum Moench): Cool Season, Grain, Annual, Upright growth habit, Enhances soil P availability,Crude protein: straw 5%, grain 13% Uses: Bees & Beneficial Insects, Green Manure, No Till, Organic Matter (Biomass), Weed Suppresion

Iron and Clay cowpeas makes a great cover crop for smothering weeds and adding Nitrogen to soil. This variety of cowpeas are grown just like soybeans. Iron and Clay is a fast growing plant that can reach 3'. The best time to plant is during spring for best results as the frost will kill the cowpeas. Iron and Clay has long taproots that help withstand drought conditions and can produce as much as 300 lb./acre nitrogen. This variety has a high organic matter production. Broadcast up to 120 lb./acre, 1/2 to 1" deep. Try with cowpea inoculant for maximum Nitrogen fixation.

The Jackhammer Radish is a fast growing daikon radish variety that is a great scavenger that will start germinating immediately! This variety is very easy to grow. The Jackhammer Radish is good for winter kills and turns into great biomass. Radish (Brassica): Cool Season, broadleaf, Annual, Upright and spreading habit, Root Crop Uses: Nitrogen Scavenger, Green Manure, Forage, Organic Matter, Weed Suppression

Inoculants help free nitrogen from the air and into a usable form for plants. Seed Inoculants are able to convert and use this "free" nitrogen from the air into a usable form for the plant. This natural process gives your garden legumes the ability to provide their own organic fertilizer. Resulting in a more bountiful yield. Naturally. Natural, dry, peat-based cultures of beneficial bacteria. Treats up to 8 lbs. of beans, peas, vetch and more. OMRI/Organic.

The Pearl Millet is a very tall grass that can reach to be 15 feet tall that is used as a multiple cut forage grass and green manure. This grass is high in protein, digestible and free of prussic acid. The Pearl Millet is perfect used for hay, pasture and silage for feeding cattle, horses, goats and other livestock. The Pearl Millet is also a very good green manure that is well adapted to low soil moisture, low fertility and high temperatures. Uses: Erosion Control, Green Manure, Nitrogen Scavenger, No Till, Organic Matter (Biomass), Weed Suppression

Chicory has a long taproot that penetrates subsoils which makes it drought tolerant and allows it to make minerals more available to livestock. Rich in potassium, sulfur, calcium, zinc, sodium, manganese and iron. When managed properly, Chicory produces leafy growth which is higher in nutritive and mineral content than alfalfa and other cool season grasses. Used mainly in mixes with other pasture or cover crop seeds. Chicory (Cichorium intybus L.) - Warm season, broadleaf - Perennial - Upright and spreading growth habit - Protein levels: 10-32% - Forms arbuscular mycorrhizal associations Uses: - Bees & Beneficial Insects - Chicken Forage - Deer Attractant - Forage

Growing your own forage for your chickens is a cheap, easy, and a highly nutritious way to feed your chickens. Chicken feed can be expensive to provide throughout the year. Growing your own from spring to fall provides high levels of nutrients that will make your eggs taste even better. Foraging chickens have a better balanced diet that creates better eggs and meat. This chicken forage blend is a mix of well balanced plants that chickens love to eat. Spread at 5 lbs. per 1,000-2,000 square feet. 100 lbs will cover 1 acre. Mixture includes: Annual Ryegrass, Perennial Ryegrass, Buckwheat, Flax, Millet, Forage Peas, Red Clover, Alfalfa

The Ladino Clover is the most popular white clover in the USA as it is two to four times as large as the common white clover! This clover has a high nutritive value and is palatability, making it a popular choice in pasture mixtures. It is not deep rooted, and will not tolerate much drought. Ryegrass and orchardgrass work well with ladino clover in mixtures. Broadcast at 25 lbs. per acre. Seed comes inoculated. Uses: Bees & Beneficial Insects, Chicken Forage, Compaction Control, Deer Attractant, Erosion Control, Forage, Green Manure, Nitrogen Fixation, No Till, Weed Suppression

A multipurpose cover crop blend that is sowed in fall! This wonderful blend will help with nitrogen fixation, adding organic matter and weed suppression. Contains a blend of Austrian Field Peas, Crimson Clover, Hairy Vetch, Annual and Winter Rye. Cut right after flowering in spring and till into soil for green manure. (30% Field Pea, 20% Crimson Clover, 20% Hairy Vetch, 15% Annual Rye, 15% Winter Rye) Seed Coverage: - 5 lbs covers 2,000-4,000 sqaure feet - 100 lbs covers 1-2 acres Uses: Green Manure, Nitrogen Fixation, No Till, Organic Matter (Biomass), Weed Suppression

Bogatyr garlic are small and intense. Its bulb wrappers are thick and parchment-like with white skin showcasing purple and violet stripes. As you peel away the outer wrappers, the purple striping intensifies, becoming almost a solid mix of purple hues surrounding the cloves. A single bulb will house five to six plump cloves. The peeled cloves are creamy white and dense. Bogatyr garlic is known for its fiery, raw heat that diminishes quickly to a mild and pleasant flavor.

Georgian Crystal garlic has a rich flavor and mild heat for a Porcelain hardneck. When slow roasted this variety, it has an amazing buttery flavor that melts in your mouth! This garlic grows well throughout the USA, but even better in areas with hot summers. Averages 4-5 cloves per bulb.

Yugoslavian garlic is considered a porcelain, which is a great storing garlic! This variety is hot & spicy and holds its shape and flavor well when cooked. Yugoslavian is regarded by some as the best if you like a good kick and is a hardneck variety.

The Persian Star is a hardneck purple stripe type garlic. The outer skin can grow pure white with inner wrappers that are streaked purple. The red-tipped cloves with marbled streaks on whitish or yellow-brown background. The Persian Star is a very pleasant flavor with a mild spicy zing that is a great addition to any dish!

Red Toch is a certified, beautiful garlic with stripes of red and pink! The Red Toch is also know as “Tochliavri” in the small Republic of Georgia village from which it hails. This garlic variety is another vigorous member of the Artichoke family and produces 12 to 18 cloves in a typical bulb. The widely celebrated flavor of the Red Toch has been described by famed garlic symposium organizer Darrell Merrell as “not too mild, not too hot”, and having “a mellow spicy tang with a fragrant aroma.”

Russian Red garlic has big bulbs that have a slightly purple skin that wraps the bulbs and cloves. This variety is a great garlic to grow for soil conditions that are slightly damp. Russian Red is one of the most flavorful heirloom garlics we offer. Approximately 6-9 cloves/ bulb. Approximately 45-60 garlic cloves/ pound.