What to plant this week in Minneapolis, MN
Minneapolis gardeners are in the thick of late summer bounty as October frost approaches, with a narrow window to harvest your remaining tomatoes, peppers, and root crops before the ground freezes. While May 8 marks our typical last frost date for spring starts, now the focus shifts entirely to pulling mature vegetables like Swiss chard, kale, and cabbage while they are still at their peak flavor.
The next 7 days
Minneapolis, MNGrowing in Minneapolis right now
- Minneapolis soil tends to be heavy with clay in many neighborhoods, so ensure your harvested beds have loose amendments mixed in before planting winter cover crops or storing bulbs for next spring's garlic.
- With the first frost averaging around October 8, protect cold-sensitive plants like basil and Swiss chard immediately by covering them with row covers on cool nights to extend your harvest window by a week or two.
- Our urban heat island effect often pushes fall blooms later; keep an eye on sunflowers and zinnias which may bloom into early November if protected from the sharp drop in temperatures after mid-October.
Sow this week
2 crops- Yellow Summer Squash
- Zucchini
Transplant this week
Nothing is due to go out this week.
Harvest soon
55 crops- Bachelor's Button (Cornflower)
- Banana Pepper
- Basil
- Beet
- Bell Pepper
- Borage
- Bush Bean
- Cabbage
- Carrot
- Cauliflower
- Cherry Tomato
- Cleome (Spider Flower)
- Collard Greens
- Cosmos
- Cowpea (Black-Eyed Pea)
- Cucumber
- Dill
- Eggplant
- Fava (Broad) Bean
- Fennel
- French Marigold
- Garden Geranium (Zonal)
- Garden Verbena
- Garlic
- Ground Cherry
- Jalapeño
- Lantana
- Lima Bean
- Napa Cabbage
- Nasturtium
- Onion
- Ornamental Sweet Potato Vine
- Parsley
- Petunia
- Poblano Pepper
- Pole Bean
- Potato
- Roma Tomato
- Rutabaga
- Scallion (Bunching Onion)
- Scarlet Runner Bean
- Shallot
- Shishito Pepper
- Shiso (Japanese Basil)
- Snapdragon
- Summer Savory
- Sunflower
- Sweet Corn
- Swiss Chard
- Thai Basil
- Tomato
- Vinca (Madagascar Periwinkle)
- Yellow Summer Squash
- Zinnia
- Zucchini
Seasonal tips
- Start succession sowing bush beans and snapdragons every two weeks for a continuous harvest.
- Deadhead Cosmos and Cleome regularly to encourage more blooms throughout the summer.
- Thin out carrot and beet seedlings now to give remaining plants enough room to mature.
Pest & disease watch
- Aphids remain active on late-season tomatoes and peppers despite cooling air, so inspect under leaves daily and blast them off with a strong water spray before overwintering.
- Late-blooming sunflowers and cosmos can attract slugs and snails during damp October rains, requiring hand-picking or bait placement around the perimeter of your vegetable patches.
- Watch for potato beetles on any remaining late-planted potatoes or eggplants, as these pests thrive in our short, intense growing season before frost arrives.
Watering this week
Water deeply in the morning to keep roots cool and reduce evaporation during this hot season.
Harvest your first ripe cherry tomatoes today to enjoy their peak flavor while they are young and tender.
Minneapolis gardening questions
3Can I still harvest tomatoes and peppers after a hard freeze hits Minneapolis?
No, a hard freeze will damage the flesh of tomatoes and peppers quickly, making them taste bitter and slimy; aim to pull these crops dry for storage while they are fully ripe but before night temperatures drop below 28°F.
What should I do with my onion and garlic harvest given our clay-heavy soil?
After harvesting your onions, shallots, and garlic, let them cure in a dry, airy spot out of direct sun for two weeks to harden their skins before storing them in mesh bags or baskets.
Is it too late to start seeds indoors now for the 2024 season?
Absolutely not; you can still sow fast-maturing crops like bush beans, lettuce, or radishes directly outdoors this week since our last frost date was May 8 and we are well past that threshold.
Other cities in zone 5a
6See the full zone 5a guide → · Plan your Minneapolis garden in SproutGuide →