A Season of Turning
In the hush of golden light and gathering rains
September is a month of change in the Maritime Northwest. The golden light softens, mornings carry a new crispness, and the garden shifts before our very eyes. What was lush and sprawling in August now begins to draw inward, preparing for rest. The pace in the garden feels both urgent and reflective—urgent, because this is the last call for sowing overwintering crops, and reflective, because each planting now is a gesture toward the seasons yet to come.
Have you noticed how the garden’s whole character can change in these few short weeks? A bed that once held tomatoes may soon hold tender seedlings of spinach. A tangle of summer’s beans may give way to the quiet discipline of cover crops. September teaches us that endings are also beginnings.
The Rhythm of Overwintering
This is the final window for sowing winter greens that will grow beneath the protective curve of a cloche. In late September, you can also sow overwintering salads directly into the soil. These seedlings, no more than a few inches tall, will carry themselves carefully through the cold, resting until lengthening days coax them back into growth come spring.
It is a humbling reminder: overwintering plants thrive on restraint. Too much nitrogen now, and their lush growth will invite frost’s cruel hand. Instead, we aim for slow and steady—plants that tuck into the soil and wait patiently for renewal.
Ask yourself: What might it look like to embrace a slower rhythm in your own life, trusting that stillness now will bear fruit in time?
Feeding the Soil, Feeding the Future
September is also a month for tending the unseen: the quiet, miraculous work of the soil. Well-rotted compost worked into the garden now releases nutrients into still-warm earth, setting the stage for winter crops. Cover crops, too, play their part—fixing nitrogen, adding organic matter, and protecting the ground from the scouring rains to come.
If you’ve sown summer cover crops, now is the time to chop and turn them in. A layer of burlap, kept moist, encourages decomposition and draws out weed seeds that can be chopped back before planting your fall crops. This gentle preparation ensures your winter greens, roots, and herbs step into a soil already alive with fertility.
Thinning for Strength
Overwintering crops ask for a little more space than their springtime counterparts—double the distance, in fact. That extra room allows air to move, roots to stretch, and each plant to face the season with resilience. Spacing is an act of trust: that fewer plants, well cared for, will ultimately give more.
What to Sow in September
Vegetables and Herbs
Under a Cloche – Early September
Beets (for greens)
Spinach, Swiss Chard
Chervil, Cilantro
Arugula, Asian Greens, Cabbage, Cress, Mustard, Radishes, Turnips (for greens)
Endive, Escarole, Lettuce
Corn Salad
(Some of these may suffer in colder winters, but are worth the experiment. The garden often surprises us.)
Direct Sow – Late September
Beets, Spinach, Swiss Chard
Carrots, Caraway, Chervil, Cilantro, Sweet Cicely
Grains: Barley, Oats, Rye, Spelt, Triticale, Wheat
Arugula, Asian Greens, Mustard, Radishes
Fava Beans, Snow Peas
Endive, Lettuce, Corn Salad
Flowers
Hardy self-sowing annuals bring life and pollinator support when much else rests.
Short Annuals
Baby Blue Eyes, California Bluebells, Clarkia, Fried Eggs, Alyssum
Annual Lupines, Mountain Phlox, Rose Angel, California Poppy, Flanders Poppy, Johnny Jump Ups
Tall Annuals
Forget-Me-Nots, Larkspur, Love-in-a-Mist
Sweet Peas, Corn Cockle, Moroccan Toad Flax
Breadseed, Peony, and Shirley Poppies
Bachelor’s Buttons
Think of them as small promises—seeds that sleep now but will awaken in spring, filling beds and borders with joy.
A Season of Questions
As you sow, turn the soil, and thin seedlings this month, you might ask yourself:
What seeds am I planting, in life as in the garden, for a future I cannot yet see?
Where do I need to slow down and trust the process of rest before renewal?
How might I make space—for plants, for people, for myself—to breathe and grow with strength?
How Eco-Restore Can Help
At Eco-Restore, we know this season can feel both full and fleeting. We can help you:
Plan and sow overwintering greens for resilience and abundance come spring.
Enrich your soil with compost and cover crop strategies tailored to your garden.
Design cloche systems to protect tender crops through our Northwest winters.
Weave flowers and herbs into your edible beds for beauty, pollinators, and year-round vitality.
This month reminds us that gardening is not only about tending plants—it is about cultivating patience, foresight, and gratitude. With each seed tucked into the soil, we plant hope for what will rise again.
