August Veggie Gardening Tips Sacramento
August Veggie Gardening Tips Sacramento
(Zone 9b Sacramento, CA – Growing Florence Fennel, Consider a cool-season garden, There are many options; Beets, Cabbage, Carrots, Celery, Swiss Chard, Chives, Lettuce and possibly Broccoli)
Fall is just around the corner, even though it still feels plenty hot.
August in Sacramento, CA (Zone 9b) is the time to start thinking about your cool season garden.
Some plants to put in your cool season garden include:
- Florence fennel
- beets
- cabbage
- carrots
- celery
- Swiss Chard
- chives
- lettuce
- broccoli
Florence Fennel
Florence fennel is a unique and awesome crop to grow for a fall garden in Sacramento. This is a bulb style vegetable that is popular in Italy and needs a long period of relatively cool weather to mature. Sow the seeds now and thin the seedlings to 12 inches apart. Once the bulbs are egg size, pile dirt over the bulbs to keep the sunlight from them and keep the stems white. You can also sow Florence fennel in the early Spring, but you may end up with them “bolting” or going to seed before the bulbs are ready to be harvested if it gets too warm too quickly.
Fall garden options
There are many plants that thrive in the fall and even grow well into the winter, especially in Sacramento where it does not get very cold. If you plan your fall garden right, you could have fresh veggies all the way until you start harvesting your spring garden.
Here are some of the plants that grow well in a Sacramento fall garden:
- Beets: choose a variety that has a short time from sowing to maturity (60 days or less)
- Carrots: there are many fun colors to choose from
- Cabbages
- Celery
- Swiss chard
- Lettuce
- Chives
- Broccoli
