These monthly guidelines provide invaluable information for successful gardening in your plot, containing useful information on what can be planted in each month, gardening suggestions and maintenance, and watering advice.
December
The days are shorter and the sun’s warmth is less, however your garden can thrive in these winter months.
What to plant this month:
- If you haven’t already, now is the time to sow seeds directly into your garden – carrots, beets, radishes, peas, chard, kale, lettuce, and spinach.
Gardening Suggestions:
- To help concentrate daytime warmth and increase germination, cover your seed beds with row covers. A light weight fabric that can be purchased at the local garden stores. It keeps warmth in and pests out. Anchor down the edges with soil or rocks to keep out slugs and others who love the succulent sprouts, and to keep the covers from blowing away.
- Plant “starts” purchased from the local nurseries too at this time. Broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, Brussel sprouts, rhubarb, lettuce, parsley, green onions (be sure to separate before planting).
- Harvest leaf crops such as lettuce and spinach by removing only the outer leaves. Let the three or four center leaves develop further. That way, the plant continues growing—and you continue harvesting— throughout the season until spring warmth causes the plant to go to seed.
- Protect tender plants from frost. There has been a freeze the second week of December in the past. Add row covers to protect seedlings, young transplants will benefit from homemade “greenhouses” made from plastic gallon milk jugs. Cut out the bottom and remove the cap. Place over young plants at night to protect from frost and the rodents.
- When harvesting your vegetables, if you have an abundance, you can always donate to the Gardens Outreach program by leaving the extra veggies in the garden shed on their listed day of the week. Your donations will be greatly appreciated!
Garden Maintenance:
- Weeds and nut grass grow quickly in garden plots. Even in winter weeds are an ongoing problem. They can spread to your garden neighbor very quickly by the seeds that blow in the wind. Nut grass can spread to your next door neighbor by root systems. Nut grass has a deep root bulb that needs to be removed with a garden tool to dig out and remove completely. Allowing these weeds to grow will become a more severe problem if they are left to spread and take over your plot. Weeds take away valuable nutrients from your soil, compete with your plants for water, and also encourage bug infestations. Please pull and remove all weeds in your plot regularly and deposit in our green waste containers by the shed.
- Never consider the soil in your garden “finished.” Add compost and organic matter regularly for good soil quality, water retention, and drainage. Think of it as a work-in progress—forever.
- Clean up garden debris, and dispose of old plants in the compost bins (but not diseased plants or plants with seeds — place these in the green waste containers). Leaving debris in the garden provides harboring areas for overwintering pests.
- Periodically rough up the soil surfaces to bring unwanted soil bearing pests and their egg cases to die of exposure on the surface.
Watering:
Monitor the winter forecast and adjust your irrigation timer as well as watering times. At this time of year watering every other day is sufficient. Make sure your timer is wrapped and ready for the cold weather. Timers will break if left unprotected in the elements.
January
This is the “PLANNING” month for Spring planting in addition to sowing early Spring crops. Begin laying out your Spring Garden plans on paper. Inventory what seeds you have and order what you need or check with the Gardens Greenhouse Committee and see what they have in mind for seed-starting.
What to plant this month:
Sow additional greens, carrots, beet seeds, and onion transplants.
Gardening Suggestions:
- Many over-wintering vegetables started in the fall garden are ready for harvest now.
- When broccoli buds are full and firm, cut the stalk with a knife. If the heads are turning yellow or loosening up, it is past harvest time.
- Leave both cabbage and broccoli in the ground and they’ll continue to produce smaller heads, especially with the benefit of a side-dressing of vegetable fertilizer.
- Cauliflower only forms one head. To keep it snowy white, pull the leaves up over the head and tie them to block out the sun. Harvest when the buds are full and close together. When they begin to separate, you’ve waited too long.
- Lettuce is ready for harvest. You can cut the whole plant, or cut just the outside leaves, leaving the core to continue growing. The “cut and come again” harvest will keep you in fresh salad greens for weeks.
- Cut cabbages when they are rock-hard; if they feel soft or springy, they aren’t ready for harvest.
Garden Maintenance:
- Check and clean your hand tools. Remove any rust; oil or lubricate; use linseed oil on wooden handles; repair or replace broken tools.
- Inventory your tools and replace any that you need now, to avoid a last-minute run to the store during planting time. Doing these things now, to prepare for the January Garden, will allow you more time later in the spring.
February
February is another planning month! Check out mail-order catalogs and garden store seed racks and plants to help you decide what to grow in the spring. Spend your time outdoors digging in lots of compost and manure so your plant roots will love their new home and produce lots of vegetables for you!
Gardening can be either frustratingly uncertain or an exciting challenge. Each gardener gardens differently, according to his or her own needs and desires. Soils differ in proportions of sand, silt, clay and organic matter. Weather seems to never be consistent from year to year. There’s always something new on the market to try as the perfect vegetable or flower or tool or technique. The great fun is in discovering and making the perfect garden happen! The great payoffs are in eating the delicious veggies, admiring the beautiful blooms, smelling the wonderful fragrances, and marveling at the plentiful harvest from those few tiny seeds and plants.
What to plant this month:
- Direct sow into your garden now: peas, carrots, radishes, beets, lettuces and spinach.
- Start seeds indoors such as eggplant, peppers, and tomatoes for summer planting.
Gardening Suggestions:
- Successful gardens result from both planning ahead and paying attention throughout the growing season until harvest. The amount of time and effort you know you’ll be able to give to your garden this year should determine how extensive it will be.
- It’s very hard to resist planting a lot, especially when the seeds are so small and the tiny plants are so cute! After a long winter, all of us are eager to overplant, only to be swamped with tomatoes and overwhelmed with zucchini. Limit your garden to the amount of space and number of plants you’ll be able to take care of well when they’re mature. Then you’ll be pleased with your successes rather than disappointed with your attempts.
- Draw out a “map” of your gardening plot and mark where your spring plants will go. Remember to rotate your plants from where you planted last spring. Crop rotation is very important to prevent disease and pests from destroying your young seedlings. Read plant tags and seed packets to determine spacing. Avoid overcrowding your plants!
- Try something new! You’ll automatically include the veggies you know your family will enjoy, but adding something new will give you a new adventure. Who knows—you might even discover a new favorite.
- When choosing carrot varieties, consider the heaviness of your soil—sow short stubby carrots in heavy clay soils, and longer tapered ones in looser sandy soil. The soil at the Gardens tends to be on the heavy clay side.
Watering:
Adjust your water timer to water in the mid-morning every other day. Be sure to cover your timer and water valve to prevent possible breakage due to early morning low temperatures.
March
On your mark, get ready, GROW! Spring is coming!!!
Waiting for spring is the hardest part of gardening! To pass the time constructively, you need to do a little planning. Knowing when to start your seeds and transplant them outdoors will help to maximize your harvest. There are no hard rules for this, it’s dependent on the climate for your particular area, as well as the weather at the time.
What to plant this month:
- Start seeds indoors, if you haven’t already. Tomatoes, summer squash, melons, cucumbers, peppers, eggplant.
Gardening Suggestions:
- Grow seeds indoors for 6-7 weeks. Protect from cold nights.
- Start saving clear plastic milk or water bottles to use as mini-greenhouses. Remove their caps and cut off their bottoms to cover the seedlings planted in your garden. This will protect them not only from the elements but from ‘critters’ as well.
- Successful gardens result from both planning ahead and paying attention throughout the growing season until harvest. The amount of time and effort you know you’ll be able to give to your garden this year should determine how extensive it will be.
- It’s very hard to resist planting a lot, especially when the seeds are so small and the tiny plants are so cute! Come spring, a lot of us are eager to overplant, only to be swamped with tomatoes and overwhelmed with zucchini. Limit yourself to the amount of space and number of plants you’ll be able to take care of well when they’re mature. Then you’ll be pleased with your successes rather than disappointed with your attempts.
- Also, try something new, if just for fun. Adding something new will give you a new adventure. Maybe you might even discover a new favorite!
- Harvest peas as they are ready, depending on the variety. Allowing them to mature too fully on the vine will stop further blossoming.
- Pluck off strawberry blooms through May. This helps to concentrate the plant’s first real burst of fruiting energy into large sweet berries rather than small tart ones.
Garden Maintenance:
- When the growing cycle for your current vegetables is over, yank them out, cut, and compost. If you’re still waiting on lettuces, carrots, beets, etc., go ahead and leave them in until the weather gets too hot.
- FERTILIZE! Add amendments/compost and let cook for a week or two. Bu’s Blend, Malibu Compost, N’Rich and /or chicken manure are good additives.
- Weed, weed, weed (weeds go in the recycle barrel and NOT in the compost bins)
- Prepare to cover existing plants if frost is forecast
April
SPRING is here!!! Now what?
What plants to grow now:
- By mid-April, you can begin planting tomatoes, green beans, squash, peppers, onions, corn, etc.
Gardening Suggestions:
- If you haven’t already, make a diagram of where you’ll be planting vegetables and title it “spring garden” and the date so you’ll be able to rotate crops each year.
- Stake tomatoes at the time of planting or soon after with a rigid stake that is at least 5 feet tall. This will help keep fruit off the ground.
- If you’ve got tiny seedlings, cover with a gallon milk container that has the lid removed and the bottom cut out. This will prevent ‘critters’ from getting your seedlings and also protect from whatever cooler nights we may have.
- You can encourage beneficial insects by adding the following herbs and flowers to the vegetable garden: dill, fennel, thyme, yarrow, daisies, cosmos, marigolds, and zinnias.
Garden Maintenance:
- If you haven’t weeded, applied compost/chicken manure, and aerated the soil, NOW is the time to do it. Let it sit for a week prior to planting.
Watering:
Check your irrigation system and make sure you’re only watering for whatever the “Water Wizard” has recommended or adjust depending on weather. Also make sure that if you have micro-sprayers, that the water they spray stays within the plot and does not water the walkway.
May
Now is the time to plant heat-loving vegetables and herbs! Summer is coming and the long hot days will be here sooner than you think!
What to plant this month:
- Tomatoes, eggplant, zucchini, peppers, chilies, green onions, cucumber, pole beans, lima beans, melons, corn, squash, sweet potatoes, strawberries, watermelon
- Herbs to plant: Chives, basil, borage, cilantro, dill, fennel, lavender, marjoram, oregano, rosemary, sage, savory tarragon, thyme, parsley
Gardening Suggestions:
- Plant cucumbers and beans together to repel cucumber beetles and prevent wilt
- Corn stalks make great pole bean supports. Plant the beans after the corn is six inches tall, no sooner, or the beans will outgrow the corn
- Reseed or transplant seedlings every two to three weeks for continuous harvests
- Trellises provide support for vining vegetables. Crops grown on a trellis are easier to pick and cleaner, and not available to snails and slugs. Cucumbers, melons, beans, tomatoes, and small summer squash look great scrambling skyward. Even small watermelons can be tied to a trellis to conserve space in a small garden. Support the heavy fruits with a rag or netting “cradle” tied to the trellis.
Garden Maintenance:
- Feed your vegetable transplants with manure tea or fish emulsion when planting and every six weeks throughout the season.
- Get rid of weeds while they are small. Waiting until weeds grow larger or reseed means even more work. Big weeds will have big root systems that are harder to get completely out.
- Aphids, mealybugs and scale can be dispensed with a strong blast from the hose (support the branch with one hand to brace it against the force of the spray), or rub them off with a gloved hand.
Watering:
Avoid overhead watering so late in the day that leaves cannot dry completely before sunset. Fungal and bacterial diseases thrive in warm, moist conditions and can develop overnight.
June
Your garden growth shifts into high gear this month! The air is hot and the soil is warm. Plants are settled in and well on their way toward strong growth, many blooms, and delicious harvests!
What to plant this month:
- Summer beans; bush, snap and runner types. If you’re planting climbing varieties, remember to put the supports in first. A “bamboo teepee” is a great way to support beans. Plant one start per stake or space them 6-8 in apart along rows of netting or wire. Bush varieties require similar spacing, but no supports.
- Sweet corn; plant starts now and water soil thoroughly before planting. Pollination is vital for full ears, so plant in blocks with plants 18 in apart each way. This makes wind pollination more effective.
- Peppers; both sweet and hot, plant in full sun and support with stakes. Peppers love heat!
- Zucchini, cucumber and squash; these related crops are hungry plants, so work in plenty of compost when you plant out. Zucchini need plenty of space, so position each plant 36 in apart. Cucumbers and squash can be trained on a trellis. Keep them well watered and fed.
- Eggplants are also heat-loving. Keep well-watered and support with stakes.
- Melons, pumpkins, heat-tolerant and bolt-resistance lettuces, okra; all need plenty of compost when planting, water them in well and keep well fed throughout the growing season.
Gardening Suggestions:
- The most time-consuming activity in a garden is harvesting-it requires twice as much time as weeding. But then, harvesting is so much more enjoyable than weeding!
- For greater yields, feed plants when they blossom. An excellent “garden tea” to assure a plentiful harvest is a mixture of 1 Tbsp fish emulsion, ½ tsp seaweed or kelp, and one gallon water.
- Spray garden tea on leaves, and pour the remainder in a ring around the plant at the drip line. Repeat every two weeks throughout the growing season. It will help increase plant vigor and reduce insect damage.
Garden Maintenance:
- Set out shallow dishes of water to attract butterflies to your garden.
- Your tomatoes will be heading skyward, so continue to tie them loosely to sturdy stakes or wires and pinch out side-shoots. Continue to watch for insect or disease damage throughout the garden. Take necessary steps to control the problem. Spotting pests early, before they have a chance to multiply and damage plants, is key to keeping problems under control.
- Get rid of weeds! With hotter days approaching, now is the time to wage war on garden weeds. Pull weeds in the morning when the ground had been moistened by dew. If soil is dry, thoroughly water and loosen with cultivator so roots can be easily pulled up.
- Change the water in your bird bath and garden fountain regularly. Standing water may become a breeding ground for mosquito larvae.
Watering:
Water your garden deeply every week or two, depending on how consistently hot the weather has been. Tomatoes and other large plants in clay loam soil use about one foot of water in three days of hot, dry weather. Some wilting of foliage at the end of the day is to be expected, but wilting through to the following morning indicates the immediate need for a deep watering for the roots.
Once again, refrain from overhead watering when the evenings remain warm, especially when leaves can’t dry off by sunset. Fungal diseases thrive when air temps remain between 70 and 90 degrees. Some diseases only need two to four hours of moist, warm conditions to develop.
July
Summer’s heat is upon us! Mulch, water, harvest!
Gardening Suggestions:
- Spread a layer of “Gromulch” around and under your plants. This will keep water in, weeds and pests out. After the season is over, you can shovel it into your soil for added nutrients.
- Tomatoes and other large plants in loamy clay soil use about 1” of water in 3 days of hot dry weather. Rinse the undersides of leaves with water to discourage spider mites. Tomatoes and eggplants especially like this refreshment!
- Get the most from your garden space by installing/maintaining trellises and stakes for your plants to grow up on-and harvesting is easier too! Keep cucumbers off the ground to avoid rot.
- Water and fertilize melons deeply once a week for juicy, fleshy fruits. Hold off watering melons about a week before they will ripen so their sugars will concentrate. This makes much sweeter melons!
- Harvest beans, cucumbers, squash, and tomatoes at least every other day to encourage further production.
- Pinch back herbs to encourage branching, and use the clippings either fresh or dried. Their flavor is at its peak just before they flower—harvest them early in the morning after the dew has dried but before the day becomes warm and the fragrant oils dissipate. If you can smell them, it’s too late; wait until the next day.
- Keep vegetables picked often, even if you don’t plan to use that day’s harvest immediately. Vegetables that aren’t harvested soon enough will produce a chemical that inhibits further blossoming. Check plants at least every other day during summer. This is especially true for beans, cucumbers, eggplants, squashes, and tomatoes.
- Do you have a plastic container that is permeated with the smell of onion or garlic? Wash the container thoroughly with soap and air dry. Crumple a piece of paper towel in it, and tightly close the cover. The odor will disappear in a few days. Discard the paper towel. Wash the container again with soap. Repeat if necessary.
- Pin a facecloth or hand towel to your waistband to wipe the sweat off your forehead and out of your eyes while working in the garden on hot summer days.
Garden Maintenance:
- Clean hummingbird feeders weekly to prevent mold and bacteria growth.
- And, don’t forget to weed, weed, weed!!
Watering:
Continue watering and feeding the entire garden with a balanced fertilizer and manure tea or fish emulsion every other week or so for steady growth and food production. Foliar sprays (applied directly to leaves) of liquid seaweed help trees, vegetables, fruits, and ornamentals withstand heat stress. Pay special attention to shallow-rooted plants, which wilt and dry out quickly in hot, dry weather. Remember to not overhead water late in the day during warm weather, when leaves can’t dry off by sunset, as this encourages diseases.
August
Fall Plantings… Already?!
While it may seem a bit early to be thinking about fall since summer just started, many fall seeds should be started in early to mid-August. “But I’m still waiting for my tomatoes to ripen!” you say… You can amend the remainder of your plot available and let it sit or ‘cook’ for a week. Make sure you add good compost and/or chicken manure in order to put additional nutrients into the soil in preparation.
What to plant this month:
- Beets, broccoli, celery, collards, green onions, winter squash, cabbage, brussels sprouts, cauliflower.
- Seeds such as kale, beets, carrots, peas, collards, and radishes can be planted directly in the plot.
Gardening Suggestions:
- Many of the August sown crops require moisture constancy and shade. The heat of a Zone 9 summer can dry out soil quickly and lead to a low germination rate. For those plants that are going to be sown outdoors, it’s important to keep the soil moisture constant. A light mulch helps keep the soil surface from crusting.
- Select the crops that you want to grow in the fall, find the best place to grow them and start to sow the seeds, indoors or out!
- In addition, fall is the time your strawberries put out “runners” (small plants that extend from the old plant on a thin vine.) Cut about an inch of the vine on each side of the plant. Look closely on the underside of the plant and you’ll notice small hairs. These are roots. Simply put the plant on damp soil and it will root itself. Do not cover the leaves with soil. Keep well watered and feed to allow the new plants to take root. Strawberries like an acidic soil. The size of next summer’s fruit is determined this month and next, the more fertilizer and irrigation, the bigger the berries will be next spring!
- How much you harvest in August can be a starting point in determining what to plant-or not to plant-next time around! Now you know from experience that the whole packet of zucchini seeds, or all six plants from the pony pack, produces way too many squash! Next time, you’ll make do with just one or two plants, even though they start out so small but can take over your entire garden plot! Spacing is very important too. Don’t overcrowd! Read the label for correct spacing.
- Freeze excess vine-ripened tomatoes for winter use. After washing them cut out the core, cut them into quarters, and place on a cookie sheet so the pieces don’t touch. Place in freezer. When they’re frozen, transfer to bags or containers for use as desired. The peel will slip off easily when the tomato pieces begin to thaw.
- Cover sunflower seed heads with cheesecloth when birds start pecking, but also leave a couple heads for the birds. Heads are ready to cure when the backside of the head is brown and dry, with no trace of green. Cut off the seed head, leaving a foot or two of stalk attached. Hang it to cure-still in the cheesecloth-in a well-ventilated, warm location. When the backs are entirely brown and crisp, the seeds should snap out easily!
Garden Maintenance:
- Fertilize tasseling corn and other vegetables that are setting-beans, cucumbers, eggplants, tomatoes, etc. for increased yield. Plants appreciate this extra boost in food but during our extra-hot weather, be sure to water the plants well first so the fertilizer won’t ‘burn’ the roots.
- Lift melons off the soil surface to get them away from moist soil and crawling pests. Boards, cans, or plastic baskets from strawberries or cherry tomatoes serve well. Stop watering plants the week before they’re ripe to allow the sweetness to concentrate and to minimize fruit-cracking problems.
- Continue to keep vine vegetables (especially beans, cucumbers, squash, and tomatoes) picked, whether or not you will use the harvest that day. If many fruits are allowed to over mature on the plant, production will slow and then cease.
- Prune vegetable plants of their leaves that have become ragged from age, disease, or insect attacks. Then water plants well. Healthy new leaves and blossoms will appear, and fruit set will begin again. This is especially effective with beans, cucumbers, and squash.
- As vine crops reach the tops of their trellises, pinch off the lead vine. The side shoots will take over the major growth and food production.
- If you have kept plants well-picked, but fruit set has stopped, suspect hot weather. Fruit set will begin again about ten to fourteen days after the temperature stays below 85 to 90 degrees.
- Toward the end of the month, pinch off the last blossoms of eggplants, peppers, melons, squashes, and tomatoes. Plant energy will then be spent maturing fruit that’s already set, instead of setting more fruit that won’t ripen sufficiently before fall cold (yes, it’s coming!).
September
September’s climate can be as hot as August, but cooler weather is coming! As the temperatures cool, the soil and air are warm but not overly hot. Fresh summer produce is still delicious, but production is slowing down. Garden tasks should center on cleaning up the old garden and getting the new one started! Now is the time to start pulling out all your vegetables that aren’t producing. They can be cut up and added to the compost pile.
What to plant this month:
- Cool-weather crops can now be sown indoors for transplant.
Gardening Suggestions:
- Soil amendments can be dug in towards the end of the month when the temperature is a little cooler. Be careful when adding manure on overly hot days. Let the soil “rest” for at least a week to break down so you don’t burn the tender roots of your new plants.
- By turning your attention to ‘what lies beneath’, the structure, drainage and organic matter in the soil, your garden will live up to your expectations and you will spend more time harvesting than weeding or dealing with plant pests and diseases.
- If you’re not going to have a winter garden, cover crops are an excellent alternative; choices include alfalfa, soybeans, fava beans, winter rye and winter wheat. Dig them in next spring two or three weeks before planting as “green manure” to give it time to decompose and not “burn” seeds or delicate seedling roots.
- You will likely get a year or two out of your basic soil, but soon you may need to add a source of phosphorus. Crops with adequate phosphorus show steady, vigorous growth and earlier maturity. This means larger fruits and vegetables in the spring. Earlier maturing crops are less susceptible to summer drought, disease infection and frost. In addition, rock phosphate is rich in minor elements such as boron, zinc, nickel and iodine which plants need in small amounts for optimum growth. Long term and slow-release feeding, rock phosphate becomes naturally available as the plant needs it. Rock phosphate can be stored for years. Read the directions on the package for application.
Garden Maintenance:
- Anything with seeds or disease should be placed in the green waste containers.
- Spent sunflowers – place them in the green waste containers.
- Tomatoes – pull off all tomatoes, cut up stems, and put in compost bin.
- Zucchini, cucumbers, peppers, melons – pull off any veggies, cut up, and put in compost bin.
- Corn Stalks – tie around shade structure poles as preparation for Harvest Festival
- Weeds, nut grass – Pull the roots of the weed and put in green waste containers ONLY. Not in compost bins!
- Groom and fertilize hanging baskets and container plants to keep them thriving through the fall
Watering:
Adjust your water usage. You shouldn’t be watering more than 5 minutes twice a day, at this point. This will be lowered as the weather and time changes.
October
You will begin to notice that your garden is growing slower this month. After a hot and dry summer things begin to wind down. This month is all about activity! Cleaning out old summer crops, amending your soil, starting plants from seed, nurturing seedlings just transplanted, and getting ready for cool-season gardening! The pleasantly cool weather is refreshing to work in after summer’s heat.
Watch for the migrating Monarch butterfly’s appearance this month. They’re on their way back to Mexico for the winter, but will be stopping by to feed on the nectar of many garden plants.
What to plant this month:
- Broccoli, cauliflower, all types of lettuce, fava beans, chard, chives, garlic, kale, kohlrabi, leeks, onions, radishes, carrots, beets, asparagus, celery, cabbage, Brussel sprouts
Gardening Suggestions:
- Garlic planted now will develop a strong root system over the winter, and leaf production can begin early in the spring, resulting in a large head next summer. So, the sooner you plant them now in rich, well-drained soil, the larger they’ll be at harvest come June. Planting in the spring will produce only medium or small sized cloves. For the largest-sized garlic, plant cloves four to six inches apart now and keep the soil moist through next June.
- Just about any broccoli variety will do well in our area. For brilliant chartreuse, pointed heads that taste milder than regular broccoli, try “Romanesco,” a cross between broccoli and cauliflower.
- Harvest your summer planted pumpkins just in time for Halloween! Cut the stems rather than breaking or tearing them, and leave two inches of stem attached to the pumpkin to lessen the chance of spoilage. Pumpkins can be stored for up to two weeks at room temperature. Check them weekly for mold. If any appears, wipe it off with a paper towel moistened with vinegar.
- Toast—don’t toss—your pumpkin seeds when you carve your Jack O’Lantern. Separate the seeds from the stringy pulp by washing the seeds well. Spread them on a cookie sheet and sprinkle lightly with salt, if desired. Toast them for three or four minutes at 375 degrees, stir, and toast another two or three minutes until they’re evenly golden. Cool to room temperature and enjoy!
- Because of our long growing season, you can stagger the planting of lettuce, broccoli, carrots, radishes, etc. every two to three weeks over a span of a couple months. That way you will have a continuous harvest throughout the fall/winter season. This is a much better planting guide than to plant everything all at once.
Garden Maintenance:
- If you haven’t already added soil amendments, now is the time to do so! N’Rich is a great product to work into your soil this fall. Also, by adding a bag of worm castings it will aid in “growing” earthworms in your garden plot.
- A word of caution-be careful when adding manure to your garden on overly hot days. Let the soil rest for at least a week to break down so you don’t burn the tender roots of your new plants.
- By turning your attention to “what lies beneath”-the structure, drainage, and organic material in the soil-your garden will live up to your expectations and you’ll spend more time harvesting and less time weeding or dealing with plant pests and diseases.
Watering:
Now is the time to adjust your irrigation. Cooler weather slows evaporation from the soil and transpiration from plant foliage, so irrigation is needed less often. Decrease the number of days-but not the length of time-you water. For example, water once every two to three days instead of every day. This change will still provide water to deep roots while allowing for longer periods for the soil to dry in between watering.
November
Even with warm days sandwiched between chilly evenings and mornings, the garden tells us that it’s closing up shop for summer! Our attention shifts to starting and nurturing cool season crops.
What to plant now:
Sow or transplant fava beans, beets, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, chard, coriander (cilantro), garlic, kale, kohlrabi, leeks, lettuce (especially romaine types and small-heading bib and butter-crunch types, which thrive with only minimal damage from light frosts), mustard greens, green and bulb onions, parsley (the flat-leaf type is hardier than the curly one), peas, radishes, shallots and spinaches, especially the curly-leafed savory types.
Gardening Suggestions:
- For the greatest yields of broccoli, pinch out the main shoot a month after planting. This will force several large side shoots. Waiting to cut the main head after it’s full-size will result in more but smaller side shoots.
- Cole crops (broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, and kohlrabi) will taste sweeter when harvested after the first frost, when the chill turns some of the vegetable starch into sugar.
Garden Maintenance:
- If you haven’t done so yet, now is the time to clear out all your warm season plants, amend the soil and plant, plant, plant!
- Clean up your garden area. Plant debris, stacks of amendment bags, wood and lumber, and old pots can become nesting places for earwigs, snails, slugs, and other pests.
- Put your old and dead plants in the compost bins. Take rotting vegetables off of them first and discard in green waste containers or take home if they are full. Also place weeds in the green waste containers.
Watering:
Again, adjust your irrigation timer for cooler weather, using less water. As the weather cools and the sun moves lower in the sky, reset your water timer to water less frequently. However, don’t change the number of minutes the system waters each time. In our area your vegetable garden will need watering only every other day. Be sure to check the time on your timer. Adjust for daylight savings time! Make sure to protect your timer with a cover. The sun will damage the screen and the cold temperatures can cause the timer to break. Replace the batteries as needed too!