We tend to think the sowing season is over. It is not—but the list is shorter than it was in June, and shorter than many articles admit.

The rule is simple: count backward from the first frost. In southern Quebec, it arrives around October 1^st to 10th. At the beginning of August, you have about sixty days left; by mid-August, fifty; by the end of August, barely forty.

Then add two weeks. A plant growing in September grows more slowly than the seed packet promises because there is less light and the soil is cooling. The “45 days” of June can easily become 60 in fall.

So the real question becomes: what matures in fewer than 45 days?

Sow without hesitation

• Radishes — 25 to 30 days. The safest bet this month.
• Arugula, mesclun, and leaf lettuce — 30 to 40 days, without the heat that makes them bolt.
• Spinach — 40 days. August is actually the best time: spinach hates extreme heat and loves fall.
• Baby pak choi — 30 to 45 days.
• Mustard greens, cress, and microgreens — sow them week after week until frost.

Tight, but doable

• Beets — for the greens and baby beets, not large roots.
• Kale — you will not get large plants, but you will get tender leaves. Frost makes them sweeter, too.
• Turnips — 45 to 55 days.
• Parisian carrots — the small, round variety, at around 55 days. It is the only carrot with a real chance.

Skip these this year

• Long carrots (Nantes, Chantenay) — 70 to 80 days. You will harvest pencils.
• Peas — they take too long and germinate poorly when the soil is warm.
• Anything that produces fruit: tomatoes, peppers, squash, cucumbers. Those needed to go in back in May.

One last thing—and it is the best part: kale, spinach, and radishes taste better after a frost. The cold forces them to convert their starch into sugar. A fall garden is not a consolation prize.

What are you still sowing in August?