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.

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.

The Rosewood Garlic is an outstanding, vigorous hardneck Porcelain variety with a pungent flavor that packs a lot of heat! This spicy variety is more tolerant to the wet spring soil and is resistant to common allium diseases, like rust. The Rosewood has a mid to late harvest and produces 4-6 cloves per bulb.

Mattchi is considered by garlic experts to be an improved version of the California Early garlic. This popular soft-neck garlic is a gourmet garlic that is an all purpose garlic. Mattchi garlic's bulbs and cloves are a uniform cream white with the occasional pink hint. This garlic is a great variety for roasting and spreading onto your favorite meals. Mattchi is very easy to grow and cloves are easy to peel.

Italian Red is a certified, great tasting and excellent storing garlic! Italian Red Porcelain is the garlic variety that is widely grown throughout the United States originating in California. Early Italian Red hardneck garlic is a very heat-tolerant porcelain-type garlic that can be planted in spring in northern gardens for a fall harvest! This garlic variety produces 6-10 large cloves per bulb that are fairly mild with a little garlic spiced flavor which intensifies during storage.

Music garlic is a "Garlic Lovers" garlic! This garlic variety is prized for it's mild flavor and ease of peeling. Its flavor is well developed without any bitterness, and it does not disappear when cooked. Just one clove can add so much flavor to any recipe, so it is time-saving! This variety keeps well until April or May when stored properly. Most bulbs average 4-5 cloves.