(Part 2: Chelsea Update would like to thank Jennifer Fairfield of The Garden Mill for the information in this story. Part 1 ran yesterday.)
September Planting
September is both a great time and a hard time to be a gardener. There is so much that you can be doing in your yard and gardens at this time of year that it’s hard to want to do much else.
Plant leaf lettuces and radishes early in the month – there should still be plenty of time for those to produce yet this season, as many will come to maturity in under a month. Check the seed packet to be sure, though.
If they take more than about 30 days, you may be pushing your luck to get them before the frost starts showing up, especially because the Farmers Almanac and the local weather people are saying that we are going to have an early fall this year. A few light frosts can be dealt with by using row covers, but heavier frosts will do in your lettuce.
Kale and some spinach can also still be planted, as they are a little more hardy and can stand a little more of the cold temperatures that will likely hit before these plants are done producing.
Continue harvesting things like peppers, pole beans, cucumbers, corn, and summer squashes until they are all done producing. Winter squashes may be ready for harvesting by the end of the month – they won’t do well once we start getting hard frosts, but don’t pick them before they are truly ready. If you planted late season cabbage and broccoli, they are likely going to be ready for picking this month, too.
Herbs
Most herbs are also still going to be going strong in September. I have the biggest parsley “bush” ever this year, and it’s not giving any signs of quitting any time soon. You can chop and freeze that as well as sage, thyme, and cilantro in order to have “fresh” herbs all winter. For tips on how to freeze herbs, check out my posting on our Facebook page.
We’ve already made a couple of batches of pesto at my house (well, I picked the basil, but Mom did all the hard work), and there is still a lot of basil on the plants, so we’ll be harvesting that and making more pesto soon.
Unfortunately, basil doesn’t do so well as a “fresh” herb in the freezer, so we’ll have to “settle” for pesto. If you have basil in your garden, keep an eye on the temperatures as we get into the month. Basil doesn’t like temps below 50° F – it turns black – so either plan to harvest it all before it starts getting too cold, or cover it on nights when we’re expecting lower temps, to prolong your harvest.
(Look for Part 3 tomorrow.)
