August in the vegetable garden: a key month for growth

🌻 August in the vegetable garden

August is both a time of abundant harvests and forward planning.
It’s a busy month that sets the stage for your garden to keep producing into autumn and beyond.

By continuing to sow, plant, and care for your crops, you extend the joy of gardening… well into the season!

🌱 Direct Sowing

Despite the heat, several vegetables can still be sown directly outdoors—often for autumn or winter harvests:

Leafy vegetables: lamb’s lettuce, arugula, spinach, autumn lettuces, chicories (sugarloaf, escarole, frisée), garden cress
Root vegetables: autumn radishes, turnips, beets (early August), carrots (early August)
Bulb vegetables: sweet fennel
Other: Swiss chard, white onions, parsley (preferably in partial shade)

🔎 Tip: To improve germination during hot weather, sow early in the morning or late in the day, firm the soil well, and keep it moist (light mulch or regular watering).

🌼 Sowing Useful Flowers

Some flowers can still be sown:

• Phacelia: a green manure that enriches the soil and attracts pollinators.

• Marigolds, nasturtiums: repel certain pests and bloom until the first frost.

• White mustard: a great green manure to clean the soil after harvests.

🥬 Transplanting

August is still a good time to plant young seedlings into the garden:

• Chicories: sugarloaf, frisée, escarole

• Autumn lettuces

• Cabbages: broccoli, Milan, white (cabus), savoy

• Bulb fennel

• Winter leeks: if not already planted

💡 Advice: Water thoroughly at planting and mulch to reduce evaporation.

🍅 Harvests and Maintenance

It’s harvest time! Tomatoes, zucchinis, beans, cucumbers, eggplants, onions, potatoes, and more.

• Harvest regularly to boost continued production.

• Remove diseased or unnecessary tomato leaves to improve airflow.

• Stake any crops that need support (leeks, peppers, etc.).

• Cut off flowering stems if you don’t want self-seeding.

• Monitor watering, especially during drought conditions.

🌾 Sow Green Manure: Gently Prepare the Soil

After summer harvests, some plots are left bare—why not sow green manure instead?
Phacelia, white mustard, vetch, and crimson clover grow quickly, prevent erosion, suppress weeds, and enrich the soil with organic matter.
Once mowed, they can be left on the surface or lightly incorporated to improve soil structure and feed microbial life—a great way to gently restore your soil before spring planting.

🧅 Planning a Winter Garden: Harvests Even in Snow

August is the perfect time to plan your winter vegetable garden.
Some crops can be sown or transplanted now to be harvested in autumn or to withstand winter cold: chicories, leeks, turnips, spinach, lamb’s lettuce, savoy cabbages, or winter lettuces.
Planting in the second half of August gives them time to establish before the first frosts.
Add mulch and, if needed, a frost cover—and you’ll be ready to garden even when the temperatures drop!

☀️ Mind the Heat!

• Mulch generously around your plants to retain moisture.

• Water in the evening or early morning, slowly and at the base of the plants.

• During extreme heat, provide temporary shade for seedlings or young plants (use covers, upturned crates, etc.).