Zone 4 - What to Plant in September

Zone 4 - What to Plant in September

Zone 4 growers typically don't have too many options to plant in September. Zone 4 first frost usually occurs in late September to early October. That being said, there's still some items you can still plant. It's the perfect time to plant garlic so you get a fast start next spring. Also there are several cover crops that can be planted now to help bring nutrients back to the garden this fall and early spring. Below is a list of items that can be planted in zone 4 in September.

Tatsoi is a flavorful and versatile Asian green that thrives in cooler weather, making it a popular choice for spring and fall plantings. Known for its glossy, dark green, spoon-shaped leaves, Tatsoi has a mild, mustard-like flavor with a slight sweetness, making it a great addition to salads, stir-fries, or as a garnish. Tatsoi seeds produce compact, rosette-shaped plants that grow quickly and are easy to harvest, often within 30 to 40 days. This hardy green is also appreciated for its high nutritional value, offering a rich source of vitamins A, C, and K, as well as calcium and iron. Its adaptability and fast-growing nature make Tatsoi a favorite among both commercial growers and home gardeners looking to add a nutrient-dense and visually appealing crop to their gardens.

Feng Qing Choi cabbage is a slow bolting Mei Qing Choi type with good plant size and dark leaf color. This variety has excellent holding ability and uniformity.

The Upland Cress is a highly nutritious aquatic herb. This cress is a slow to bolt green, but once it's established it will take off and have a long growing season! Upland's 6-8" rosettes of dark green, glossy, rounded leaves are very tasty and refreshing. Upland is very similar to watercress, but is much easier to grow!

The Hon Tsai Tai has deep purple tender stalks with a slight mustard flavor that is great in different salads or cooked into stir fries! Its green leaves have petite florets that are best harvested right before the bright yellow blossoms open. Hon Tsa Tai is best grown in mid to late summer.

The Curled Cress is a highly nutritious aquatic green. This cress has been cultivated for hundreds of years. This peppery and pungent cress has the same tangy flavor as watercress, as they are of the same botanical family. Curled cress is great for seed sprouting or microgreen growing!

Red Choi is a beautiful Pak Choi cabbage that has an excellent flavor cooked into meals! This variety is green with maroon veins that changes into a deep red color. The Red Choi has a compact growing habit.

Vit Mâche, also known as corn salad, lamb’s lettuce, or mâche, is a cool-season leafy green with a long history in Europe, where it was foraged in fields and vineyards before becoming a cultivated crop in the 17th century. This compact plant forms small rosettes of tender, spoon-shaped leaves that are deep green and naturally high in vitamins A and C. Its flavor is mild, slightly nutty, and gently sweet, making it a favorite for winter and early-spring salads. Mâche thrives in cool weather, germinating best in fall or early spring, and prefers rich, well-drained soil with consistent moisture. It’s cold-tolerant enough to survive light frosts, allowing gardeners to harvest the delicate rosettes over a long season with minimal care.

True Watercress is a delicious highly nutritious aquatic herb. This watercress has a wonderful fresh peppery-tasting flavor. Being semiaquatic, this cress is a creeping perennial whose leaves are popular in salads, sandwiches and as a garnish. True Watercress grow rapidly in in damp soil and can be grown in pots of soil placed in a tub of water if water is changed weekly.

Mei Qing Choi cabbage is a Shanghai pak choi type with good heat and cold tolerance and bolting resistance. In the U.S., this variety is harvested as baby pak choi. It is smaller than Joi Choi, weighing about a quarter of a pound. This pak choi has an excellent flavor and is extra tender.

Garland Serrate Leaf Greens is a delicious Japanese green that is an edible chrysanthemum. This popular Japanese green has serrated, dark green aromatic leaves that have an excellent flavor that becomes stronger with age. Garland Serrate is easy to grow and produces high yields with side shoots.

The Brilliant Rainbow Quinoa blends beautifully into meals or salads. Just like its name, this quinoa contains a spectrum of many different colored heads - red, orange, gold, white, and green. The Brilliant Rainbow Quinoa's leaves have a salty spinach-like flavor. Harvest for greens when 6-8" tall or let grow for beautiful tall blooms that can be harvested for grain. This Quinoa's grain has a nutty flavor that goes well with any dish!

This pak choi's tender leaves and crisp sweet stalks are a tasty addition to recipes or eaten raw. Swap stalks for celery sticks, add to soups and stews, or grill on the barbecue. Plant every couple of weeks for successive harvests in spring and fall; Bopak retains it’s nice flavor even in warmer weather.