Hello Readerand welcome to September!

September marks the autumnal equinox on September 22 in 2021, in the northern half of the world. Marking the end of summer and where autumn or Fall begins. Fall is my favorite time because of all the harvest festivals and feasts to celebrate the end of the harvest season.

It’s time to break out the pumpkins, put on sweaters and enjoy hot cider, as the nights will become increasingly cool. ​​​There is plenty of work to be done in the garden!

TO DO:

Bring in the last of your tomatoes before frost. Hang the entire plant upside-down in a cool cellar or attic, where the fruit will ripen and be used well into fall. another options is to place on trays where the tomatoes do not touch until ripe and ready.

Make sure to dig compost into the soil wherever the last crops have come out as they leech the nutrients out of the soil.

PLANT:

In the garden this month, plant cool-season crops that will endure frost: beets, carrots, Swiss chard, head and leaf lettuce, loose-leaf lettuce, mustard, onion seeds, and sets, radish, turnips, and kale.

If any of your late vegetables do not seem to be growing, give them some compost tea or liquid manure.

If you plan on producing a kitchen garden throughout the Fall and into the winter month, it’s time to think about cold frames, hoop houses, and frost blankets.

Once your soil is well-prepared, you can sow seeds of lettuce, parsley, radishes, and carrots for crops during the fall and winter. Transplant young kale and lettuce plants to the cold frame or under a hoop house for use in late fall and early winter. Keep the cold frame or hoop house well ventilated on warm days. You will appreciate having such fresh vegetables to Thanksgiving time.

Harvest:

In September, vegetables ready for harvest include tomatoes, beans (bush and pole), carrot, chilies, cabbage, corn, cucumber, eggplant, kale, lettuce, melons, okra, peas, pumpkins, radish, purslane, rutabaga, summer squash, turnips, rhubarb, and zucchini.

In September, fruits ready for harvest include apples, grapes, figs, melons, nectarines, peaches, pears, pecans, plums, raspberries, and strawberries.

Herbs ready for harvest in September include savory, grasses, caraway, coriander, dill, hyssop, lemon balm, marjoram, oregano, parsley, rosemary, and thyme.

Happy Harvest!