Seeds to start in September

They're expecting the first frost of the season in New England later this week. That won't happen here in Houston until November or December, so while they're harvesting the last of their summer vegetables, we can continue to enjoy our hot-weather crops such as eggplant, basil and tomatoes. But September is also the time to start many fall vegetable seeds that we can transplant into the garden next month. Here's a list of what I'm starting now.

Artichoke
Beets
Broccoli
Brussel Sprouts
Cabbage
Cardoon
Cauliflower
Celery
Collards
Fava Beans
Fennel
Radish
Turnip
Mache
Summer Squash
Zucchini

This looks like a lot of seeds to start, but it's nothing compared to the to-do list for October when it will truly be the beginning of autumn here in Houston. In addition to these fall vegetables, I'm also starting succession crops for several of our year-round crops such as arugula, Italian dandelion, and the Asian greens. It's getting difficult to walk in our back yard with all these pots and seedlings everywhere. I just hope we don't get any sudden bad weather that would require moving everything to safer ground -- it would take the whole family quite a while to move all the plants.