A comprehensive, no-pressure, simple list of reminders to help keep your garden healthy and thriving. Pick and Choose what you need to do. Check back often to see what is next on the To-Do list!
September
In August, we finished with our last succession planting with quick growing veggies. Now, it's September and for the North, its the waning days of Summer and early days of Fall. Labor Day is like the switch to cooler weather and chance of frost.
It's important to keep diligent in these waning weeks in the garden. The dates assigned are on rotation, to do continuously throughout September. The key tasks are maintaining, harvesting, cleaning, and observing+documenting. Maybe even doing a little seed saving along the way.
-
MaintainingWeeding
It can sometimes be the most dreaded task in the garden. One day the weed is just sprouting and next it's a monster. But it can also be like painting a room, transformational. Weeding prevents weed seeds and a pay-it-forward task for your future self. I like to do this after dinner, wander the garden ~ pulling a weed, pinching off a dead leaf, listening to the sounds of the evening. It's therapeutic for me. -
HarvestingGathering
By now, you have been eating out of your garden for some time, planning meals, and even snacking off the vine. Plants are rushing to put out seeds for survival and you will find yourself with a burst of bounty. If overwhelmed, share with family, neighbors, friends and coworkers. And blanch and freeze. It will give you breathing space and saving the bounty for winter meals. Tomatoes peel like a dream after freezing for sauces and stews. Beans taste fresh and sauté up quickly. -
CleaningRemoving Spent Plants
When removing spent plants, pull the soil back several inches deep, snip the taproot deep in the soil, leaving behind the finer feeder roots. This will help build soil by leaving the roots. If you remove the entire root system, no worries. It is more important to remove the plant to keep from having rot and pest issues later in your soil. You can add organic material, but it is much harder to remove pests. I cover open beds with straw for moisture/nutrient retention and erosion control. -
Observing + DocumentingNotebook + Pen
This is a task that is not emphasized enough in the gardening world ~ observing and documenting your garden. Learning sinks in and takes root here. When we make changes to the landscape, it has a dynamic affect ~ adding water, removing vegetation, opening the earth, putting up a shed, installing a fence, introducing nutrients, expanding the gardening, enhancing the landscape. Action impacts your patch of ground and maybe your neighbors. Observe how the sun moves, the shady spots. What pests are in your garden? When do our notice them? How water moves through the landscape (rain & snow). How does the wind move, does it shift over the day? How does it change with the season? This is a year-round task. Use an app or good old fashion pen and paper. Highly recommend photographing as well. -
SavingSeed Harvest
If you have any plants or produce that got away from you and went to seed; this is the time to start looking if those seeds are ready to save. This is quite common with peas and beans. With herbs, dill and cilantro are quick to flower and ‘go to’ seed. These are easy plants to learn seed saving. As a general rule, when the pods turn brown and dry, it is time to remove them from the plant, take out the seeds (label them!) to air dry for a week or two out of sun+heat, then into a envelope with harvest date and plant name. Store in a cool, dry, dark space. -
RotatingTask Rotation
Rotate these tasks throughout September. As plants finish producing or look so tired they no long will, remove them and cover the open spot with a bit of straw, weed-free grass clippings or leaves. One of the important tasks here is make sure the soil is covered to protect against soil erosion and nutrient loss. You worked hard to build your garden soil this summer, protect it by keeping it covered. By the end of the season, little by little, you will have your garden ready for winter and a well earned rest.
Seed Collections Tailored for Zones 3 & 4
Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, Idaho
North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan
New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine
Be Inspired and Empowered to Grow Your Own Food
CULTIVATE THE NORTH