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.

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.

All of the seeds below are very good at attracting deer to your property! Buckwheat - Improves top soil and an effective choke weed! Plant late spring to early summer. Establishes quickly. Matures in 60 days. Accumulates phosphorus and and potassium for following crops. Frost sensitive. All below packages come in 1lb. bags. Crimson Clover - Winter annual protects and improves soil! Plant fall or early spring. A good nitrogen fixer (70-150 lbs per acre per year). Showy crimson blooms in late spring are an excellent source of nectar for bees. Inter-seeds well with grass. Austrian Winter Pea - A great cool season legume for cover crops, wildlife and winter grazing! Austrian winter pea, sometimes called "black pea" and "field pea" is a cool-season, annual legume with good, nitrogen-fixing capabilities. Austrian winter pea is a low-growing, viny legume which has been shown to fix over 200 pounds of nitrogen per acre per year. Peas - Grow regular old peas in your deer food plot. One of the most preferred vegetables for deer. Oats - Oats will kill off winter weeds and hold soil with a mat of vegetation! A high yielding oat that can produce over 100 bushels per acre. Plant anytime of the year. Deer will graze oats all year round. Barkant Forage Turnip - Great forage crop that provides high energy feed! Barkant turnips are an improved, early maturing, diploid turnip wtih a large purple tankard shaped bulb. Barkant turnips have a high leaf to stem ratio and and provide very high contentrations of protein, sugar content and leaf yields. Barkant Turnips are ideally suited for wildlife. Dwarf Essex Rape - A cabbage related plant that is a perfect grazer! Dwarf Essex Rape is a perfect grazer plant that will persist well after the first frost. Ready to pasture 6-8 weeks after sowing. Hairy Vetch - Sow with or without grain, grass or field peas! When sown late summer, grows fast and will attract wildlife. Hairy Vetch has rapid growth that makes it a good weed suppressant.

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

California Early is an excellent planting garlic variety that produces bulbs great for culinary use and is an early season garlic harvest! This variety is likely the most commonly grown variety in the U.S., and for good reason. It is a medium, easy to grow softneck, with a nice mild flavor and excellent storage ability. Cal-Early is one of our "work-horse" varieties we depend on, year after year, for fresh market and garlic braiding. The skins are a nice off-white with a purple blush and it produces 10-16 cloves per head.

Pinkeye Purple Hull cowpea is one of the most popular varieties preferred by Southerners. Cowpeas in general are great for drying and canning. This variety's hulls are purple and its cowpeas are green with pinkeyes when freshly picked turning cream with dark maroon when dried. The Pinkeye Purple Hull produces pods that are six to seven inches long and purple. If you are using for Nitrogen fixation we highly recommend using a cowpea inoculant.

The Siberian garlic is certified and does great in cold weather! Siberian is a mid-season garlic and a great producer in cold climates. This variety does great for all northern gardeners! The cloves of this garlic are protected by an attractive light red skin. This clean, medium-to-strong flavored garlic will warm your soul on the coldest winter evening! Siberian has a very high allicin content, possibly the highest of any garlic. Allicin supports normal cholesterol levels, boosts the immune system, and enhances circulation! Approximately 12 garlic bulbs per pound. Approximately 4-5 cloves per bulb. Hardneck Garlic

Elephant is certified and the largest "garlic" you can get! This variety of "garlic" looks like garlic and tastes like a mild hardneck type, but it is actually a type of leek. Just like its name, Elephant is large with 1 1/2" cloves that have a great mild garlic-like flavor. Elephant's bulbs can easily weigh a pound or more! This variety is very easy peeling and keeps very well. Each bulb averages 3-5 cloves. Approximately 9-14 garlic cloves per pound. Hardneck Garlic

Spanish Roja garlic is a certified, early season garlic harvest! This variety is a gourmet best-selling garlic for home gardens with an excellent classic rich flavor! Each bulb has about 8-12 cloves. Spanish Roja's outer wrapper varies in color, from a rich cream to deep purple stripes. Its cloves are large with a brownish red color and are easy to peel. This garlic keeps well, 4-6 months. During curing, many bulbs lose their stems. Approximately 8-12 cloves/ bulb. Approximately 65-85 garlic cloves/ pound.

Einkorn is the most ancient cultivated wheat and one of the earliest cereal crops grown by humans. As a diploid grain, it contains just two sets of chromosomes (14 total) compared to the six sets (42 chromosomes) found in modern hexaploid wheat, and it lacks the D genome often associated with wheat sensitivity in some people. Einkorn is a hulled wheat with a rich, nutty flavor and is widely valued for its higher levels of protein, minerals, and antioxidants compared to modern wheat, making it a nutritious and traditional choice for specialty baking and whole-grain use.

The Inchelium Red garlic has won many awards with its delicious flavor of a soft-neck variety. This mild flavored garlic can be used in many different dishes. This large, top-quality softneck was discovered on the Colville Indian Reservation in northern Washington. Stores very well for 6-9 months. Mid-season, Artichoke type.

The Big Boy Purplehull is a high yielding, popular Southern cowpea that is great for home gardens. Big Boy Purplehull is a long podded variety with 13-16 peas per pod that are light tan in color and oblong shape. This is a good garden variety and is very prolific. If you are using for Nitrogen fixation we highly recommend using a cowpea inoculant. Try with cowpea inoculant for maximum Nitrogen fixation.

Georgian Fire garlic is a certified, farm favorite with a stunning flavor and cloves! This garlic variety has the classic garlic porcelain sheen and flavor. The Georgian Fire variety is the beauty queen of the garlic world. Its cloves grow large and average about 6 to 8 per bulb. This garlic can be eaten raw as they have a pleasantly hot flavor. Roasting really brings out the flavor of Georgian Fire! Porcelain hardneck type. Approximately 10 garlic bulbs per pound.