This Month in My Garden - September

I know that September is half way past already, but I thought I'd still share the list I made at the beginning of the month. It is a little sad to see summer and all it's wonderful eating come to an end, but I love fall and the change of seasons! The crisp air makes it hard to stay indoors! Hopefully that means I'll accomplish everything needed this month!

Here is my list of jobs for this month in my garden.

1. Pick, cure and store pumpkins and winter squash. This is the first year we've grown pumpkins so I'm new at this! We have a BUMPER crop!

2. Dig potatoes. Our late planting of potatoes is actually still green but the plants should be dying back soon. We like to plant the bulk of our potatoes late (mid-June) so that they are picked in cooler weather and last longer into the winter.

3. Continue enjoying the garden produce. We are still picking green beans, tomatoes, corn and peppers but it will soon be ending so I want to take advantage of each opportunity.

4. Plant more lettuce, spinach, kale, and chard seeds for fall harvest. I also want to start our raised bed/hoop house again.

5. Clean up the perennial beds, trim back the old flowers and divide perennials such as day-lilies, so that they can get re-established before cold weather.

6. Plant some pansies and mums in the bare spots of the perennial beds. Pansies planted now usually live through the winter and are the first cheerful face to greet the spring!

7. Plant some more spring-flowering bulbs. Some of my tulips have disappeared and I'd like to replace them.

8. As areas of the garden are finished for the season, till the soil and plant a cover crop.

9. Watch for signs of the first frost, and before it hits, pick all peppers. I like to chop them up, spread on baking sheets, freeze, then place in bags for easy use in recipes all winter.

10. Save seeds. I hoping to learn more about saving seeds but for this year, I'll probably keep it simple. Maybe it would be fun to collect some seeds from the children's flowers, such as zinnias, marigolds, and cosmos.

And that should be enough to keep me out of trouble!