If you are like me, searching for what to plant in September in Kentucky you might be surprised to find out how much is actually going in the ground this month. So much to harvest and the crazy amount of pests still attacking.
September starts to cool down. After the heat of August I am thankful for those cooler evenings. I’m ready for the broccoli and cauliflower to emger The fall garden is in full swing.
I am up here on the ridge in Columbia, Zone 7a, and September feels like a restart. Time to put some beds to rest and keep tending the remaining fall crops.
For the complete month-by-month schedule, see our Kentucky Vegetable Planting Calendar.
🌱 We grow our own vegetables to control exactly what goes into our food—no pesticides we didn’t choose, no wondering where it came from. September is the month the garden shifts into a cooler slightly slower gardening month. And honestly I am ready.
If you missed the earlier posts in this series you can find April [April post Here], May [link], June [link], July {link}, and August. [link} — everything growing in the garden right now traces back to those months. And the Kentucky Garden Calendar page is pretty awesome resource too. Here’s exactly what to plant this month in zones 6b, 7a, and 7b across Western, Central, and Eastern Kentucky.
This post contains affiliate links to Epic Gardening and other trusted companies. If you purchase through these links, I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. I only recommend products I personally use in my Zone 7a Kentucky garden.
Quick Answer: What to Plant in September in Kentucky
👇 Use the interactive calendar a few paragraphs down for exact dates by zone — then keep reading for what I’m actually doing on my Zone 7a homestead this month. (You can jump to the calendar using the table of contents below)
Direct Seed Now (fast crops): Spinach, leaf lettuce, radishes, arugula, mustard greens, turnip greens, mâche, cilantro
Plant Now: Garlic beds (prep now, plant November), overwintering spinach, shallots
Sow Cover Crops: Cereal rye, crimson clover, hairy vetch, Austrian winter peas in cleared beds
High Tunnel: Fall succession — lettuce, spinach, greens for November and beyond
Harvest Now: Late tomatoes, peppers, winter squash, the last pole beans, melons, basil before frost
Watch For: First frost (mid-to-late October), dry spells, cabbage worms on cole crops
A Quick Note on My August Kentucky Garden
August gardening in Kentucky is HOT and humid with so many pests. I was picking green beans and almost “picked” a praying mantis, yes I did EEEKKK like a little girl and my dog looked at me like I had a screw loose. That kind of sums up the everyday pest happenings in August.
I planted way to many tomatoes for our family of two at home. I did make some great sauce, salsa, and freezer kits sized just right for us empty nesters, or a family of two. Lucky my community never says no to free maters!
The Thelma Sanders did well again and I picked most mid August. Watermelon and cantaloupe we super yummy and a refreshing treat. The peppers did well in the high tunnel and I made my jalepano and pepper sauce and used them in the salsa.
What I did not expect was the explosive new growth of my raspberry plants! Can’t pick those berries next year!
Now September is here, and the fall garden I started in August is what carries us into October and November.
What to Plant in September In Kentucky
September in Kentucky is the last-call month for fall greens and the beginning of putting the garden to bed. The window is shorter now — first frost lands somewhere around October 20 in central Kentucky — so the name of the game this month is fast crops and cool-hardy crops.
Spinach, leaf lettuce, radishes, arugula, and mustard greens can all still go in the ground and mature before the cold. And here is the payoff: cool nights make those fall greens sweeter and more tender than anything you grew in the summer heat.
The thing to really think about in September is remembering that cool nights slow everything down. It’s a waiting game, but after the rush of spring and summer I am ready for a slower garden. A crop that matured in 40 days in the summer might take 50 or 55 now, so give yourself margin before frost — and keep a few frost covers on hand to buy extra weeks at the end.
September is also garlic season in the making. I am prepping the bed now and will get cloves in the ground in November for a harvest next summer. I am super excited to experiment with Cherokee garlic from Bobbett’s Garlic here in Kentucky.
As the summer crops come out, I am sowing cover crops to feed the soil over winter instead of leaving beds bare. As leaves fall I will also turn those into mulch for the garden beds. The garlic did well with that last year.
If you have a high tunnel of any size, this month becomes even more interesting — you are clearing out the last summer crops while starting the fall succession that will extend your harvest deep into November and beyond.
This is the season where burnout is real and that’s ok. Just do what you want to and what you can. I found food banks can take extra produce and it really helps the community. Here is the link I found to donate to your county.
Looking for zone specific Printable Vegetable Calendar?
YES, all twelve months, In ONE printable calendar. Written by a Zone 7a homesteader growing food to feed the family & sharing as I learn.
Plus occasional real-talk homesteading tips. No woo-woo, just what works.
Did I Miss the Kentucky Fall Planting Window?
Short answer: probably not — but the window is closing, so move fast. September is the last good stretch for direct-seeding fast greens like lettuce, spinach, radishes, arugula, and mustard. Those go straight in the ground now, no indoor starting needed, and mature quickly in the cooling weather.
If you were hoping to transplant broccoli, cabbage, or cauliflower, that window has mostly closed for a fall harvest — early September is the very tail end, and only if you already have fast maturing, sturdy transplants ready. Check your local nurseries and farmers markets; some still have fall transplants this time of year. If you can’t find them, no worries — lean into the fast direct-seed crops instead.
What I’m Actually Planting in September— On My Kentucky Homestead
Here’s what is happening on my ridge this month. Your timing may shift a little depending on whether you are in western, central, or eastern Kentucky — but the general flow is the same. Now I do not plant all of these, as burn out is real for me. I do state which I love and what I am growing.
Direct Seeded Outdoors — Fast Fall Greens
September is my last big direct-seeding push for the year, and it is all about speed. Here is what is going in the ground:
🥬 Spinach is the star this month. I am sowing one bed to eat this fall and a second bed to overwinter — I’ll harvest what I can before hard freeze, mulch it heavily, and it comes roaring back for the earliest spring harvest of anything in the garden. Fall spinach germinates far better than the summer sowings that always fried on me.
🥬 Leaf lettuce is going in early this month for a fall harvest. Fall lettuce is genuinely better than spring — no bolting, sweeter, more tender. My grandson has decided he loves lettuce on his cheeseburger (grandpas are the best, he says), so I am planting enough for two of us plus enough to share. [✏️ keep or swap this personal detail]
🌶️ Radishes — the fast spring types (Cherry Belle, White Icicle) go in all month long, 22–30 days to a crop. I pickled White Icicle back in spring and loved them, so I am sowing short rows every week or so to keep them coming. If you tried the big fall/winter radishes now they would be cutting it close, so this month I stick to the quick ones. Grab radish seeds here and save 5% at no extra cost to you.
🌿 Arugula, mustard greens, and turnip greens can all going in for quick, peppery fall salads and cooking greens. These are fast and cold-hardy — some of the easiest wins in the whole fall garden.
I was introduced to mustard greens when I lived in Washington state. Is it wrong to fall in love with the spiciness? I like to eat raw on my sandwiches and it reminds me of a light horseradish! Just love it.
🌱 Mâche (corn salad) and cilantro are two I may experiment with more this fall. They say Mâche is almost absurdly cold-hardy — I can sow it late and still get salads deep into the cold. My husband loves cilantro, I am not a huge fan. So I grow a few. It finally behaves in cool weather instead of bolting the second it gets warm.
Grab cool-season seeds Here and save 5% at no extra cost to you
Garlic & Overwintering — The Long Game
🧄 Garlic is the big September project. I am learning from Bobbett at Bobbett’s Naturally Grown in Liberty Ky. She is teaching me about Cherokee garlic and growing here in Kentucky.
I am prepping the bed now — clearing it, adding compost — and ordering my seed garlic so I am ready to plant late this month into November once the soil cools toward 60°F. Garlic is planted in fall, sits through winter, and gets harvested next June or July. It is the ultimate “plant it and forget it until summer” crop, and homegrown garlic is a completely different thing than what you buy at the store.
🧅 Shallots and multiplier onions go in on the same timeline as garlic — plant in fall, harvest early summer. I tuck them in right alongside the garlic bed.
❄️ Overwintering spinach (mentioned above) is really part of this same long-game mindset — a little effort now for the earliest possible harvest next spring.
Cover Crops — Putting Beds to Bed
This is something I did not appreciate until I started homesteading: a bare bed over winter is a wasted bed. So many, many weeds, UGH. As my summer crops come out this month, I am sowing cover crops instead of leaving the soil naked to erode and compact all winter.
The recommend cover crops for Kentucky September garden:
🌾 Cereal rye (winter rye) — the most forgiving and cold-hardy. You can sow it late and it still establishes. Great for beds I am clearing at the end of the month.
🌸 Crimson clover — fixes nitrogen and is gorgeous in spring. Sow it early-to-mid September so it has time to establish before hard freeze.
🌿 Hairy vetch and Austrian winter peas — nitrogen fixers I sow into beds that grew heavy feeders like tomatoes and squash.
Come spring I will have to cut or turn them in, and the soil is looser, richer, and full of life. Perfect.
What’s Happening Inside the High Tunnel
This is my Why for getting the ploy tunnel: for extending the growing season. With the health struggles we face and many of you as well, a garden has helped us immensely. Having fresh greens is truly the perfect homestead move. Even if you are making a row size tunnel or umbrella dome over a raised planter, it’s worth it in my book.
As the last summer crops finish inside, I am direct seeding the fall succession — lettuce, spinach, and greens that will keep producing into November and beyond when everything outside has gone dormant. That protected season extension is so exciting to me.
The University of Kentucky has high tunnel planting calendars for all three Kentucky regions that I reference for tunnel timing — genuinely useful if you are managing a tunnel and want zone-specific guidance. [link to UK high tunnel calendars]
What I’m Harvesting in September
The summer crops make their last big push before frost.
Broccoli- The fall harvest seems to make them sweeter. Mine is coming in the end of September through November.
Pole beans — (direct seeded June 4th) I hate to see them go. This is one of the most satisfying harvest of the season so far — watching those beans come off the cattle panel trellis in the raised bed is exactly what I planted them for.
Peppers — still producing and I am still picking. The pepperochini went into pickling in July and they keep coming. Bell peppers and jalapeños are still coming in strong — though the jalapeños had a mite issue earlier in the season that I am still watching. [link to pepper post]
Basil — I will most likely be picking the last of my basil this month, most of it bolted in the August heat. I do have some that is in the shade of the tomatoes that hasn’t bolted yet, keeping an eye on it .[link to storing basil] Did I mention it is an awesome companion plant too?
September Garden Maintenance — What to Stay On Top OF
September in Kentucky is the turn — warm days, cooler nights, and that first frost creeping onto the calendar. Here is what I am focused on:
Frost watch & row covers — first frost lands somewhere around October 20 in central Kentucky, but it can surprise you. I am getting frost cloth and row covers staged now so I can throw them over peppers, and tender fall seedlings on a cold night. A few covered nights can buy you weeks of extra harvest.
Clearing & composting spent crops — as summer crops finish, I pull them, send healthy material to the compost, and either sow a cover crop or mulch the bed. Bare, weedy beds over winter just make more work in spring.
Watering — September is often dry in Kentucky. New fall seedlings need consistent moisture to germinate and establish, so I keep an eye on the beds and aim for about an inch of water a week if the rain doesn’t come.
Seed saving — this is prime season to save seed from open-pollinated and heirloom favorites. I let a few of the best beans dry on the vine and save seed from anything that earned its place this year.
Bug & disease checks — pest pressure eases as it cools, but cabbage worms and aphids still hit the fall cole crops and greens, so I keep checking. The University of Kentucky Entomology department has a vegetable pest activity calendar that tells you exactly which pests are most active by month.
Is It Too Late to Plant in September in Kentucky?
Not at all — but you want to move now. September is the last strong window to direct seed fast fall greens: spinach, leaf lettuce, radishes, arugula, mustard greens, and turnip greens all still have time to mature before frost, especially in the first half of the month. It is prime time to prep and plant garlic for next summer, to sow cover crops in cleared beds, and to start fall succession in a high tunnel or row covers. The window for slower crops and cole-crop transplants has mostly closed, so lean into the quick growers — and keep frost covers handy to stretch the season at the end.
September Planting Calendar for Kentucky Zone 6 and Zone 7
This is an approximation with information from the UK Cooperative Extension. Kentucky is full of microclimates. For example, my kitchen garden things are colder than my ridgetop garden, and the holler is cooler yet. Check with your local extension office or look up your frost dates by zip code. (see note after this calendar if you need more assistance)
Check with your local extension office or look up your frost dates by zip code. Learn more about the two zone system at play in Kentucky https://bloomandpeck.com/kentucky-vegetable-planting-calendar/
🌻While you’re checking your zone above, I’m just hoping the deer leave my raspberry plants alone long enough to get some for next year.
🌱 Want Every Month’s Planting Dates in One Place?
You just got September. Get the whole year — zone-specific planting dates for 30+ vegetables, all twelve months, one printable calendar. Written by a Zone 7a homesteader growing to feed her own family, not to sell you something.
Plus occasional real-talk homesteading tips. No woo-woo, just what works.
What will you be planting in your Kentucky Garden? Share in the comments!
Sources & Resources
Planting dates and crop information referenced from the University of Kentucky Cooperative Extension — Home Vegetable Gardening in Kentucky (ID-128) and the UK Ag Weather Center June Planting Calendar. Pest activity calendar from UK Entomology Vegetable Pest Activity.
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