SEPTEMBER - EDIBLES - LET’S GET GARDENING!

TIME TO HARVEST... 

Pak choi, winter brassicas, winter lettuces, leeks, and celeriac. Time to harvest hellebore flowers, slitting the base of the stems & putting into hot water for 15 seconds extends vase life, especially later in the season when flowers have hardened off. 

TIME TO PLANT...

Chitted seed potatoes (keep mounded up or use frost cloth to protect from late frosts), lettuces, more brassicas, celery, silverbeet, spinach, salad greens, and the hardier herbs (parsley, mint, sage, oreganum, chives, coriander, rocket, rosemary, catnip, parcel, thyme.)

Pak choi is an excellent in-between-seasons vegetable thriving in spring temperatures.

Prepare greenhouses, large tubs, or vege garden beds for tomatoes – dig in quality compost, real blood & bone, & sheep pellets. Use tomato mix for tomato tubs, and as planting mix in greenhouses/garden beds.

In frosty areas start tomatoes in greenhouses or indoors in a north-facing warm well-lit spot.

All our fruit trees are in pots or bags and can be planted at any time of year – good soil preparation will get them off to strong start.

Check out the free very useful brochure “A Home Orchard in a Small Garden” for maximum production.    

Set up trellising for climbing beans, cucumbers etc to provide essential support as they grow. Plastic or strong string mesh trellises are a simple & cost-effective solution. Use sturdy stakes/posts + cable ties to attach. Harden off seedlings grown under protection – before transplanting slowly adapt them to outdoor conditions in semi-shade protected from wind.    Plant asparagus for a long-term, low-maintenance crop providing yearly yields when established for approx. 15 years. Use well-prepared rich soil and annual applications of compost. 

TIME TO SOW...

beetroot, brassicas, carrots, parsley, peas, tomatoes & capsicums (indoors), coriander, & rocket.  Tip: cover carrots from seed sowing on with fine netting if carrot fly’s a problem (their larvae feed on carrot roots, causing significant damage, spring to autumn).

TIME TO FEED...

All new seedlings will get off to the best start if watered in at planting with a liquid plant food (Thrive is easily mixed & applied). I usually then give them a side dressing of the appropriate plant food for longer term feeding.

Feed strawberries  monthly all through the season with a balanced high-potash fertiliser to encourage flowering/fruiting, water the fertiliser in after application, and water regularly as strawberry production drops right off if they get dry.

TIME TO PROTECT...