You can bring the summer to a triumphant close instead of letting it peter out. These tasks will really make a difference with area 2 on your list--plants that are basically well-grown and ready to produce for you, but getting tired, hungry, stressed, or drained by pests. These are the tasks that bring big rewards. Problem: Depletion Zucchini can get pretty tired and hungry after pumping out squash all summer. Any plant that produces over a long season, like pole beans, okra, peppers, chard, or cucumbers can use a snack about now. Solution: Give your hard-working plants a layer of compost, a dose of fish emulsion, a dusting of alfalfa meal, or some other nitrogen source. To make your own probiotic fertilizers, see our directions HERE. (Tomatoes shouldn't get too much nitrogen--compost is perfect. To cure blossom end rot, give them some fast-acting calcium--CalMag or wood ash.) Problem: Weed Competition Weeds can take over in a hurry, especially when really hot days make hoeing or weeding a misery. Solution: If possible, set aside a time in the morning or evening to do 15 minutes of weeding. The key is to keep it simple, manageable, and repeatable. (I like to take a glass of wine out with me and watch the day fade and the birds go home to roost.) As you deal with the weeds, make a plan for prevention. Weeds need light and moisture. If you can deprive them of one or the other, with mulch, cardboard, plastic tarp, or shutting off the water, you will have less of a problem. As you finish each area, even if it is only 1 sq ft, mulch it. I have big swathes of weeds where I was waiting to mulch when I finished the whole bed. Don't follow my bad example! If there are patches that are too overrun to be worth saving, fine. That's a perfect place for fall vegetables. Get out the hoe and erase the problem. Remember that Fall is the Season of Forgiveness in the Garden; you get a fresh start. Problem: Tiny Bloodsuckers Thrips, mites, whiteflies, and their ilk are the bane of the late summer garden. Often too small or hidden to see, you don't know they're there until there are lots, which is now. They attack the lowest leaves first. They suck sap out of the leaves. The leaves develop a silvery or white speckled or stippled appearance on top, where the juicy middle of the leaf has been sucked away from the outer skin. Sometimes the leaves curl. With spider mites you sometimes see webbing, like spiderweb. You can often see dark specks of excrement and discolored patches that have been sucked dry. What you often won't see are the bugs themselves. They are tiny. You might want to invest in a little pocket microscope. Thrips are large enough to see with a hand lens or even your naked eye sometimes. But mites are pretty much invisible. Aphids, scale, and whiteflies are all visible, but small. Unless you turn the bottom leaves over, you may not see them. Solutions: These should be multi-pronged and repeated over time. They include keeping weeds down; having lots of small flowers in bloom, especially alyssum, which hosts a major mite predator; mulch; removing lower leaves and branches that act as a ladder for the pests; and spraying with solutions that knock down soft-bodied pests while not damaging their predators. (The photo above shows a minute pirate bug eating pests.) I would start by spraying compost tea. It is the least disruptive to beneficials, and it strengthens the plant so it can fight back. Soap-based sprays can work, especially when they include essential oils like peppermint and oregano. Enzyme-based sprays work well. They are non-toxic and work by digesting the outer skeleton of the pests. (Using an enzyme found in the guts of earthworms, which dissolves the skeletons of the soil organisms they eat.) The brand I am familiar with is called Dr Zymes. I also use it for mildew, which is another late-summer plague. The key for mildew is often to change the pH of the leaf surface, and to add probiotics that prevent the mildew organism from spreading. Compost tea is a good place to start.
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In August and September, you want to harvest high-quality produce from your productive summer crops, and get a healthy batch of fall crops going in the areas that are starting fresh. Here are some tricks I have learned to get a good stand of new seedlings in spite of the heat, and get the most out of your summer corn patch. Getting lettuce to sprout in hot weather Most lettuce has spotty germination in hot weather. (Just when you really want salad,) If the seeds have been stored in temperatures over 80, they can go into deep dormancy and be difficult to sprout. Two solutions:
Getting a good stand of root crops Root crops are winter comfort food. They aren't demanding, either. Ordinary garden soil with no extra fertilizer should do. The hard part is getting them started. They need to get going while the weather is still hot, or they won't be big enough when cold weather comes and growth stops. Their seeds take longer to sprout than greens do. You have to keep the soil moist for a long time so the seeds don't dry out and die. This can be a challenge. Try this:
Growing well-filled ears of corn
For some reason, I never see cucumber beetles damaging my cucumbers, or any other cucurbit. What I do see them doing is eating cornsilks. Now this is a big problem because the silk is the pollen tube of the corn ear. If pollen can't go down that tube to pollinate the ear, kernels won't form. So check your ears; if the silks are cut off short, or missing, you need to go get cucumber beetle traps. They are sticky like flypaper and have a pheromone that attracts the beetles. When to harvest sweet corn? It is not as straightforward as a tomato. There is no visible sign when the sugars that make it sweet are fully developed, or when they (very quickly, alas) turn to starch and lose flavor. Once you see shriveled silks at the tip of an ear, watch it daily. When the ear is well-filled, feel the tip to see if it feels pointed under the husk or if it has filled out into a more rounded or blunt shape. The husk should still be green, and the silks should be brown and dry. Eventually, when you think it may be ripe, you can peel back the husk enough to check the kernels themselves. Pop one with your fingernail. If it has clear juice, it's not really ready (but don't throw it away, its just not as sweet.) If the juice is milky, it is JUST RIGHT. If it is pasty or gummy, it is past its prime but still edible. Once you have peeled back some of the husk to make this check, watch the ear carefully for insect damage. I invite you to bury your troubles in the dirt for an hour, even if it is just the dirt in a single flowerpot.
In times like this, people plant and tend gardens. We plant to save money. To have something for the family to do at home. To have food even when the store shelves are empty. To get exercise and lessen stress. To have some control over something. To have fresh herbs for fragrance and well-being. To see a red zinnia or a sunflower bright against the sky. To forget the news and the noise for a bit and be part of the bigger living world, along with the bumblebees and the robins. The first question is—What do you want or need most? Cut flowers for the house to cheer you up? As much food as possible? Teas and body care products? Medicinal herbs? Special foods with cultural or personal significance? All good reasons to plant a garden; all with different needs for space, sunlight, soil, and amount of labor. The point is to be clear about your priorities. There are always trade-offs. Consider adding to our community's resources by planting extra food for those who can't. Or perhaps you could take up the challenge of growing medicinal herbs for local use. You don't have to know how to prepare and dispense remedies, if you connect with an herbalist who does. Perhaps they have the knowledge but not the materials. If food security is your goal, these tips will help:
One of my favorite things about gardening is being part of a cycle. Whether it is a favorite rosebush, ripe apples, or the first tomato, greeting old friends is a comfort and a delight. This year, I am giving more space to my favorites, and to plants that come back again in their season.
My other favorite thing about gardening is that you can always try something new. Most gardeners can think up far more projects, plantings, and experiments than they actually have time and energy for—never mind space. So I'd like to suggest some ways that you can try new stuff without adding a lot of new garden space. One new idea that is gaining momentum is growing perennial vegetables. Like many new things, perennials are an old, old thing rediscovered. Before modern supermarkets, perennial vegetables were what people in Europe ate after their root cellar was empty and before new crops could sprout and grow. Not only do perennials provide food at a time when nothing else does, they do it in a space that few other food plants want. Many of these crops disappeared from agriculture because they didn't fit well into plowed fields. But they are just right for subsistence farms and homesteads—or for suburban lots--because they fill a variety of niches in the landscape. Like berry bushes, perennials can go where vegetables would be difficult--fence lines, along the foundation of the house, under trees, and shady, rough, rocky, steep, or odd-shaped spots. I especially like them next to paths and patios where you don't want to be digging and disturbing things, but want something low and manageable. Some are happy to live near fruit trees, benefiting from both summer shade and the yearly mulch of leaves, undeterred by tree roots. Chives, Garlic Chives, Good King Henry, Miner's Lettuce, and Sorrel are all good in this niche. Others, like Sylvetta, can make a permanent erosion barrier on slopes. Caucasus Mountain Spinach is a big vine, and loves to grow on the north side of a building. Rhubarb and Lovage are a big, handsome plants that are perfectly at home in the front yard or back patio, with shade-loving flowers like bleeding hearts. You couldn't find a better "architectural plant" for the herbaceous flower border than either of these. Of course, flowers themselves come from every sort of niche from desert to swamp. If you have evergreen shrubs that don't add much but greenery, consider a pollinator and beneficial insect border instead. Street frontage, lawns, and front porches are perfect for butterfly and bee habitat that provides pest control for the rest of the yard, but is pretty enough to please the pickiest neighbor. Herbs are another category of plant that will live in marginal conditions that vegetables would disdain. Most familiar herbs like poorish, very well-drained soil, but others want the opposite—a marsh. You can take advantage of a rocky spot for Thyme, Sage or Grindelia, and plant Marsh Mallow, Meadowsweet, or Figwort next to your leaky faucet. Self-Heal spreads by runners, making a carpet in shade. Instead of worrying about it taking over your herb beds, why not use it to carpet the ground under trees or berry bushes? Even a plant as aggressive as Mint can make a pest-fighting groundcover under big vines or mature trees. Vigorous bulbs like big daffodils and lilies (not tulips) pair well with peppermint, marjoram, or oregano as a groundcover. Next time you walk around the garden, lift your eyes past the boundaries to see what niches are boring, empty or filled with weeds. There is usually something interesting that needs to grow in just that kind of spot. Many of us just have small chunks of time these September days. But the weather is great for working outdoors. So let's think about Ninja Gardening--focused projects that knock out a priority job in less than an hour (some in mere minutes). Here are my top five:
A Container Salad/Herb Garden: Winter is dark. Winter is muddy and might require a coat and boots for a foray into the garden. So even if you have beds full of winter veg, it's nice to have a container by the kitchen door for grabbing things for dinner (that you forgot to harvest until dinner was already underway.) I like to have salad stuff up out of the mud and near the lights of the house―lettuce, endive, mizuna, green onions. I like to have herbs like thyme and rosemary in pots, close enough that I can run out and grab them while dinner is on the stove. Pull out those dying petunias, work in compost and kelp meal, and plant winter lettuce. It will only take minutes. You'll be happy in December. Compost Pile: It is so satisfying to cut down dead stuff and make a big pile. It's so clever to make your own free fertilizer for next spring. And it is so utterly disastrous when mites and diseases spend the winter on your dead plants instead of getting cooked to death in the compost pile. Trust me: mite, thrip, and aphid eggs build up if you don't compost the plants they live on. Throw used mulch on the pile too. Where to put this compost pile? On the bed where you'll grow tomatoes, corn, or zucchini next summer. It will prevent weeds and fertilize the bed for you. Put your Containers to Bed: Containers (and raised beds) are filled with soil you have to buy, so it's worth a couple of minutes to keep the soil in place and weed-free. Large containers can get next year's fertilizer from a cover crop. Just sow clover or cover crop mix now, under the plants that are still there. (You can do this in the garden at large as well―rough up the soil, broadcast cover crop seed wherever you can reach, under tomatoes, etc. Rake in or mulch lightly. You're done in minutes.) Smaller Pots are Easy: If they won't have anything in them over the winter, cut down the summer flowers. If there are weeds, leave them. If not, cover the surface with dead leaves, weeds, etc. Water one last time. Now, use the drip tray under the pot as a lid. Just turn it upside down over the pot. Without light, the weeds can't grow. Next spring, worms will have turned the dead plant matter into rich soil. And your potting mix will not be washed away or compacted, either. Bulbs: Garlic is one of those things that is so good fresh, and so terrible to run out of. Softneck types keep longer and can be braided, but stiffneck types give you those delicious green garlic stalks to eat. You might want both. And while you're at it, put some daffodil bulbs under your fruit trees to help repel gophers (and make spring cheerful.) Poke holes 4” apart with a stick, rebar, trowel, whatever. Throw a garlic clove in each. Use a rake to cover all the holes in a swipe or two. Ninja gardener! This is the first of two posts. You can also read Return of the Ninja. Seven more projects to do in a few minutes :
Winterize: Get your perennials and fall crops ready for winter with seaweed. Besides potassium, seaweed contains plant hormones and sugars that increase hardiness. You can use dried kelp meal or soluble seaweed powder. These are easy and fast to apply—kelp meal can just be sprinkled around your plants. (To me, that means run by and throw some around.) Soluble seaweed powder is mixed into water (1 teaspoon to 4 gallons) and dumped around your plants. Both will help harden new growth and thicken the sap so that they don't freeze. Don't give nitrogen fertilizers from now on—they promote the kind of sappy growth that freezes easily. Save some Seeds: I just timed myself, and it took 3 minutes to locate a bucket, cut some dead cilantro plants, and stuff them in. It took 6 minutes to strip off the seeds, shake the chaff to the bottom, and pour the round seeds out into a bowl. It took one minute to use a kitchen strainer to get out the dust and little leaf crumbles. See what I'm getting at? Saving seed sounds more daunting than it is. Sure, some seeds are rare and difficult. Most aren't. Plant Some Glory: Pacific wildflowers are spectacular, and most are winter annuals. They sprout with the fall rains, make a rosette of leaves over the winter, then bloom in spring. That means two things: One, you need to plant them in fall, unless you live where the ground freezes solid. Two, they will act like a cover crop and hold your soil over the winter. Seeds can be hard to find, but I've just listed several kinds here at Quail Seeds. One, phacelia, is even used by farmers as a cover crop. It's also the bees' favorite flower. Full disclosure: This is one time when you do need to take the time to prepare a weed-free planting bed. Wildflowers don't need rich soil, but they have a hard time competing with weeds. So it's not quite ninja, but its so worth it. Bug of the Year: Suddenly everyone seems to have aphids. I find that the beneficial insects can keep the aphids under control IF you have a lot of small nectary flowers like alyssum, IF you don't spray poisons, and IF you prevent ants from carrying new aphids up your plants. So, aphid control is really ant control. Use diatom dust. For larger plants, paint a mixture of coconut oil and mint essential oil in a band on the trunk. Ants won't cross it. A Semi-Wild Garden: A few edibles can be planted haphazardly, left unthinned, compete with weeds, and (usually) survive. They overwinter in my garden, and bloom very early with edible flowers that attract aphid-eating beneficials. I plant them together as a “meadow garden.” Mizuna, Cilantro, Arugula, Turnip, Miner's Lettuce, Texel Greens (Ethiopian Kale), Italian Dandelion, Mustard Greens, and Escarole. (This was the subject of my very first blog post in December 2018.) Anyhow, if you are really pressed for time, it is quick, and better than nothing. Mildew Prevention: September is mildew month, when the air gets cooler and moister. You can't change the weather, but you can change the pH of your plants. You can also coat the leaves with mildew-eating microbes. Do both at once by spraying with compost tea or LAB (lactic acid bacteria--yogurt for plants.) You can find information on these probiotic brews in our How-To section here. Undersow: Most of us know that cover crops do good stuff, and most of us put planting off too long. This year, do it fast and early. It doesn't matter that your tomatoes or whatever are still in the ground. Throw seed for clover, vetch, or rye all around and under those tomatoes. Rake it in or cover with a light layer of straw. If you can rough up the ground and pull some weeds before you start, works even better. It's called undersowing, and it allows you to get those cover crops going while your summer crops are still in place. Takes about 8 minutes to do 100 sq ft. A real ninja move. |
AuthorJamie Chevalier lives and gardens on a river in the Coast Range of Northern California. She has gardened professionally in Alaska and California, as well as living in a remote cabin, commercial fishing, and working with seeds. She is the proprietor of Quail Seeds. Archives
April 2024
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