08/03/2026
If you want a fall garden, you can plant these now!
Here in the Pacific Northwest zone 8b, August is the time to plant your fall/winter garden. The key is to keep your seeds moist until they germinate.
• If you haven't already had your fill of these, you can direct seed zucchini and cucumbers now until mid-August if you have 40 days before the first frost (average is late October, early November).
• It's still not too late to grow bush beans. They take about 40 days to mature. Plant in any open pocket in the garden.
• Peas can also be started in early August to give them time to mature before frost.
• Carrots must be kept well-watered for germination but plant in August and you can harvest sweeter carrots in late fall and winter.
• Turnips and rutabaga can be planted in August. Turnips can be harvested in 60 days but rutabaga may take up to 100 days so plant early.
• Salad turnips (like the popular Hakurei variety) can be planted now until md-September as they mature in about 40 to 45 days.
• You can plant bunching onions all season long and they are generally frost tolerant.
• Beets can be planted mid-August through early September.
• Chard can grow in spring, summer and fall and last through the winter but fall leaves are softer and sweeter.
• Herb seeds such as dill and cilantro can be planted now. Although dill is considered a warm season crop it can handle some light frost and takes about 45 days to harvest. Cilantro generally likes it cool and can take some frost. If you spread seeds in late fall, you will have cilantro for your spring garden. Parsley can also survive our winters, especially the curly varieties.
• For lettuce, spinach, and mustard greens, wait until mid to late August or early September to seed as they will bolt quickly in hot weather.
• Arugula germinates and matures in as little as 25 days so plant in a shaded cool part of your garden now or seed in mid to late August.
• Radish (small round or linear varieties), planted in mid to late August through September and consider planting every 2 weeks for a continuous harvest through September as they produce from seed to harvest in as little as 28 days.
• Daikon, watermelon or black Spanish radish can be planted now as they take about 55 to 70 days to harvest.
• Pak Choy, Bok Choy and Asian cabbage can be planted when cooler weather comes at the end of the month. Pak choi takes about 30 to 40 days; bok choi up to 60 days and Asian cabbage takes longer to harvest at 50 to 80 days.
• Cabbage, broccoli and cauliflower are better planted as transplants in mid- August. They can take a frost, but the heads may not have time to fully form. Cabbage leaves are still edible! January. King or Deadon cabbage or good choices. Broccoli varieties with shorter days to maturity can be planted as seeds but again the heads cannot take a lot of frost. The same is true of cauliflower. Prestige, Fredor, Walcheron Winter, and Purple Cape are good winter varieties for our area.
• Kale can grow in all seasons and easily survive our winters. Try Russian kale, Winterbor, dwarf blue curled scotch or Lacinato. They will sweeten nicely after a frost.
• Kohlrabi can be direct seeded in August and will mature over the fall.
• For more information see the WSU publication on fall and winter gardening at
Western Washington has generally cool summers and mild winters in most locations. At altitudes below 1000' frost in the soil is rare and can usually be prevented with a light…
