What to plant now: late August into September
Keep harvesting beans, courgettes and tomatoes while they are productive. For a fresh sowing, choose crops that suit cooler conditions, such as spinach or perpetual spinach, and check the seed packet for your variety and site. Clear finished beds, add compost where needed and decide which ground you will keep growing through autumn.
Moving into September, prioritise harvesting and protecting what is already established. Use the calendar as a planning prompt, not a weather guarantee, and start with the beginner guide if this is your first season.
Month-by-Month
January — Plan
Too cold to plant outside. Order seeds (Seed Savers, Mr Middleton, Quickcrop). Design your bed layout. Chit seed potatoes by end of month.
February — Seed Indoors
Start broad beans, onions, early lettuce indoors. Prune fruit bushes. Turn compost.
March — First Outdoor Sowings
Potatoes can go in from mid-March. Direct-sow carrots, parsnips, spring onions, lettuce. Start tomatoes and peppers indoors.
April — Main Sowing Month
Direct-sow beetroot, radish, spinach, chard, peas, turnips. Transplant lettuce. Plant out broad beans and onions. Start courgettes, squash and french beans indoors.
May — Tender Crops Out
After last frost (mid-May in most of Ireland), plant out tomatoes, courgettes, squash, french beans, sweetcorn. Direct-sow brassicas (cabbage, kale, broccoli).
June — Maintain & Succession
Succession-sow lettuce, carrots, beetroot every 2–3 weeks for continuous harvest. Stake tomatoes. Water deeply. Mulch. See the June planting guide for the detailed month-by-month version.
July — First Big Harvests
Early potatoes, peas, broad beans, first courgettes. Keep sowing lettuce, beetroot, turnips and autumn carrots. See what to plant in July in Ireland for vegetables, herbs, flowers and July jobs.
August — Peak Harvest
Tomatoes, courgettes, french beans and potatoes can all be productive. Sow suitable autumn spinach or perpetual spinach, keep harvesting regularly and start planning winter coverage.
September — Harvest, protect and prepare
Harvest maincrop potatoes as conditions allow. Protect established brassicas and salads, clear finished beds and check seed-packet timings before any final sowings. Use the quieter period to decide what will be mulched, composted or kept under cover.
October — Winding Down
Lift remaining squash and tomatoes before first frost. Plant garlic (if not done in September). Sow green manures. Clear and mulch empty beds.
November — Protect & Plan
Harvest leeks, parsnips, sprouts, winter cabbage. Protect overwintering crops. Dig manure into empty beds.
December — Rest
Not much to do. Harvest leeks, sprouts, stored potatoes. Review what worked. Order next year's seeds.
What to Plant for a First-Year Plot (Beginner-Friendly)
- Potatoes — easy, forgiving, visually satisfying
- Courgettes — prolific once it gets going; 2 plants feed a family
- Runner beans or french beans — climbers use vertical space efficiently
- Lettuce + salad mix — succession-sow every 3 weeks for continuous harvest
- Carrots — slow but hugely rewarding when they come up
- Herbs — mint, parsley, chives, thyme — useful, pretty, hard to kill
What to Avoid in Year 1
- Tomatoes outdoors — Irish summers rarely give them enough heat. Use a polytunnel or greenhouse
- Peppers / aubergines / sweetcorn — marginal outdoors in Ireland; polytunnel crops really
- Complex succession plans — one planting of each crop is enough in Year 1. Succession comes in Year 2
Supplies to get started
Seeds, basic tools, polytunnel options — our supplies hub has honest recommendations.
Supplies HubNeed space to put the plan into practice?
Compare an allotment, a shared community garden and a private growing-space request before you contact anyone.
Compare growing-space routesRead the beginner-friendly guide to vegetables that grow well in Ireland.