What's happening in the late September edible garden

Cactus zinnias on right and Flame cock's comb on left
Sunday, September 22, 2024

We are having a very dry September again this year and way above average temperatures.  In the past, we could depend on the rains starting by mid-September and supplemental watering being pretty well over until next summer.  Not this year.  I am still watering the beds weekly and the potted edibles every 2-3 days.  

Peppers, beans, eggplant, okra and squash do well in this type of weather if you make sure they have enough to drink.  I have many peppers just waiting to ripen, my okra continues to flower and produce fruits, there are a few flowers on my Trombetta squash and 1 or 2 fruits, several tomatoes on most of my tomato plants, and flowers and fruits on my eggplant.  When the heat gets in the 90's and stays there, tomatoes will drop their flowers so you don't get as many fruits during heat waves.  Hopefully, we will get the rain and cooler temperatures they are calling for this week and it will help everything in the garden.

Herbs are doing well.  The basil and oregano is in full bloom.  I do need to do a cutting of my basil and make some pesto before frost hits and my basil all dies.

Cardinal basil in forefront and Genovese basil in background

The winter lettuce seed I planted about 10 days ago has sprouted and are growing.  When they get their second set of leaves, I will start transplanting them into their winter pots which I will cover with a portable greenhouse cover.  I also have Giant Blue Feather lettuce, chard, Red Romaine lettuce, Utah celery and pink celery coming up.  All will do great under cover all winter.  

 

My vining green beans have died off.  It looks like the voles tunneled all under the plants.  Voles love eating roots and it appears they love green bean roots!

I dug all my shallots and garlic last month.  I will divide and replant them next month.

If you are a garlic lover, October is prime time to plant your garlic for next summer's harvest.  I save the biggest cloves from my summer harvest to plant in the fall.  If you haven't ordered yours yet, some varieties may be sold out, but that is always a good reason to try something new.  Time to plant garlic!

My volunteer zinnias, cock's comb, and flame celosias did really well this year.  I'm sure I will have many volunteers come up again next year.  The California Giant orange zinnia just glowed in my front yard pot.  I may have to get a packet of the orange California Giant seeds for all the front pots.

Fuschia pin cushion zinnia

Hummingbird vine, Heavenly morning glory, and Red Malabar spinach volunteer vines went a little crazy this summer.  Next year, I'll need to thin them back much more than I did this year!

My husband has been busy hauling in dirt from our pasture to backfill around the addition we put on.  I am looking forward to getting my southern exposure flower beds back!  Right now, I have been temporarily growing in the beds at the back of the house, which is northern exposure.  We don't have alot of garden bed space in back so about half of my veggies have been grown in pots.  I grow all my peppers, tomatoes, greens, onions, and eggplant in pots.

I do like growing Egyptian Walking Onions, eggplant and peppers in pots so will continue to do so.  Tomatoes, pole beans, squash, okra, cucumbers, corn, garlic and melons all are more productive in the ground.  You can still do well in pots using compact varieties, but smaller plants do mean smaller yields.

Pretty soon, it will time to reflect back on this year's garden, see how much I was able to can, pickle, dry and put away in the freezer to develop next year's garden plan.  It is best to do at the end of the season when all is still fresh in your mind.  It is also a great time to write up the list of things you'd like to learn more about over the winter to try in next year's edible garden.