Saturday, August 30, 2025

The September 2025 Edible Garden Planner

Harvest from September garden
Saturday, August 30, 2025

End of summer is a great time to tidy garden beds, harvest herbs, plant for fall and winter harvests, and add new perennials.  As the days get shorter, growth slows and before long the sun cannot support all the greenery from summer.  Plants, trees and bushes will drop leaves, but peppers, tomatoes, eggplant, greens, herbs, okra, pole beans, squash and cucumbers will keep producing through frost.  Keep the fruits picked to keep them producing.  Beginning of September is an ideal time to sow seeds of cool weather greens for fall and early winter harvests.  

Harvesting Herbs
This is the perfect time to harvest your herbs.  You can cut them back so they remain lush, improving the tidiness of your garden, and providing herbs for the winter ahead.  Cutting them back will help the plants build stronger root systems.  Trimming also encourages new growth.  You just don't want to prune perennial herbs too close to frost as new growth makes the plant less hardy. 

I dry my herbs to preserve them.  I cut the plant back by about two thirds and put the stems loosely in a paper bag in a dry, warm area out of the sun and let dry naturally.  Loose is the key here so they get good air circulation and do not mold.  They should be completely dry in about 3-4 weeks.  I like putting them in clothes closets to dry as they release such great fragrance, repels moths and the darkness helps keep the flavor in the herb. 

Once dried, remove the leaves from woody herbs and store in an airtight container out of direct sunlight.  With a soft herb like chives, you can just crumble into the airtight container.  I use wide mouth canning jars for herb storage or freezer bags kept in a dark location.  


Basil is one that loses most of its flavor when dried.  You can cut back basil a few times each growing season for harvesting and preserving.  My favorite way to preserve basil is to make pesto and freeze it.  It tastes just like freshly made pesto.  Be sure to remove all leaves or bring plants indoors when they are calling for frost.  Basil is very frost intolerant and its leaves will turn black when touched with frost.

 If the winter is not colder than usual in our zone, most perennial herbs like chives, oregano, sage, savory and thyme can be harvested year round straight from the garden.  If it is a harsh winter, the tops of these perennials will die to the ground, but re-sprout in the spring.
Winter squash from the September garden
Fall planting guide for cool season crops
September is prime time to plant more greens, beets, cole crops, carrots and radishes. 

October is the month to plant garlic for next year's harvest.  Buy your garlic now if you haven't already because the most popular varieties sell out early!  I replant the biggest cloves from this year's harvest.  I use both regular garlic and elephant garlic in the garden.  I like elephant garlic because it produces huge cloves.  Hardneck garlic has larger cloves than soft neck and is easier to peel.  The advantage of soft neck garlic is that it stores longer and is hardier in colder climates.  I gave up on doing winter storage of whole cloves and went to pickling the extras.  Pickled garlic lasts for years in the frig.  

You can pick up transplants like broccoli, cabbage, lettuce, kale, as well as herbs at some nurseries since gardening has become so popular.  You can also buy them on line or grow from seed.  Everything that loves spring also thrive in fall into early winter and some all the way to spring.  

Lettuce is my favorite for fall.  Plant a variety daily the first two weeks of September so that they are mature by the end of October.  Pick varieties that are cold tolerant with descriptions like "winter hardy", "cold tolerant", etc.  Time to plant lettuce seed for fall, winter salads


Caring for your new seeds and transplants
Like in the spring, newly sown seeds need moisture to sprout.  Keep seeds and transplants moist until they get their first real set of leaves and are well established.  Then water as needed.  Outdoor seed starting tips

Many crops you can harvest into December and beyond, depending on how cold fall is.  Some get sweeter with some frost, like carrots, chard, and lettuce.  With cover, you can harvest all the way through winter!  
Extend the season with protection for plants

Caring for the Summer Vegetables
Many of the summer veggies will continue producing until the first killing frost.  I continue to fertilize the beginning of September and October to keep the plants healthy while they are producing.  We are getting less and less daylight now so it is expected that the plants will drop lower leaves and have slower growth. Cucumbers, summer squash, peppers, eggplants, okra, snap beans and tomatoes all keep producing in our garden well into November.  

Greens in the garden are getting a second life as the temperatures cool and consistent moisture returns.  I got my greens sowed a couple of weeks ago and most of them are up now.  We had a real heat wave before that.  Lettuce seed will not sprout if soil temperatures are above 75F.  I sowed lettuce, spinach, greens and snow peas when it got back down into the 80's for highs.  I'll transplant the seedlings into pots that I keep under the portable greenhouse for the winter to keep salads all winter long when the temps start staying in the low 80's or cooler so they don't bolt. 

A quick reminder, save the seeds from your best performers to plant next year!  You can replant seeds from any heirlooms or open pollinated plants and they will be like their parent; hybrids likely will not.  Not only does it save you money, but it also gives you the plants that do the best under your garden and zone conditions.  Be sure to save seed only from disease free plants.  Seed saving-fun, easy and a cost saver  

Sunday, August 24, 2025

What's happening in the late edible August garden

Garden in the morning
Sunday, August 24, 2025

August usually sees the full repertoire of the summer garden harvests.  This August has been hard on even the summer vegetables due to the extreme and prolonged heat July through last week.  Usually there is late sweet corn (plant corn in succession and different varieties to lengthen the harvest), summer squashes (like zucchini), peppers of all types (sweet to hot, hot), tomatoes, Mediterranean herbs, cucumbers, okra, apples, peaches, pears, grapes, beans, melons, figs, eggplant, honey, artichokes, raspberries, onion, winter squash and fennel are all in season in the Midwest.  

This year for warm season veggies, the heat put the brakes on tomatoes, cucumbers, squash and beans.  Tomato pollen is sterile when temperatures average about 85F.  The flowers will form but will fall off because they can't be germinated.  Only our small tomatoes have continued to produce.  The larger tomatoes have very few babies on them and those that do form do not get to normal size.  Our temperatures have started to drop with highs in the mid 80's and lows in the mid 60's so they so be able to produce again.

My beans, winged and yard long, have just started to produce in the last week.  My lima bean vines are still less than 12" long and not flowering.  I think this is mainly because I put them in a new bed.  I'll have to add compost this fall so it will be more fertile for next year.

My Trombetta squash vine hasn't produced any squashes but has started to flower so I should be getting squashes soon.

My cucumber vines both stopped producing.  Only one is flowering but no fruits so far in the last couple of weeks.

My eggplant and pepper plants are doing just fine.  The heat didn't seem to bother them.

I went and fertilized all my veggies with liquid fish fertilizer now that it has cooled down some to give them a boost.  Summer veggies do love September weather so I should see a good increase in production in the next couple of weeks if the temperatures stay normal.

I am harvesting small tomatoes, snap beans, peppers, greens, sprouting broccoli, Giant Blue Feather lettuce, Egyptian walking onions, eggplant, goji berry, basil, melons, husk cherries, and herbs.  

You can start a second round of summer veggies like tomatoes, cucumbers and summer squash at the end of June to have more vigorous plants going into fall.  I started 3 extra tomato slicer plants a week or so ago.  They have sprouted but it will be a while before they are big enough to produce. This year I lost a couple of Cherokee purple plants last month but the rest (15) kept producing.

I have gotten all the cucumbers I need for pickles so I don't really need more.  Since the Trombetta has just started flowering, it should do well all the way through fall.

If you are not growing summer veggies in your own garden, your local farmers market is a great place to pick up these seasonal veggies to either eat or preserve.  The best buy on any fruit or vegetable is when it is in season.  You can get even better deals on any produce that has a few blemishes which have no effect on the flavor.  If you are going to can, freeze or dry them, just be sure to remove any blemishes first.

We grow many edibles in pots because our edibles are integrated into the flower beds.  In pots, we have had great luck with Egyptian walking onions (which can be harvested year round), peppers, eggplant, bush zucchini, bush cucumber, dwarf tomatoes, greens, fig tree, columnar apple trees, dwarf moringa tree, kumquat tree, sweet bay, mint, goji berry, raspberry, lettuce and celery. 
Spaghetti squash sitting on hummingbird vine
I have tried sweet and hot peppers in pots and the garden.  Overall, they seem to do the best in pots.  I am growing a couple hot peppers-a pequin type Chiltepin and Anaheim.  I use the tiny peppers in my season salt I make and Anaheim for chili powder.  I have several varieties of sweet peppers-Habanada, Tricked You jalapeƱo, yellow, red and green bell peppers and a dark red snacking sweet pepper.  The bell peppers are in the ground and doing well.  The rest are in pots.

Weekly watering for plants in the ground is sufficient with monthly fertilizing.  A pot with a water reservoir in the bottom is the best solution for lengthening the time between waterings when growing in pots.  Otherwise, plan on watering your pots every 2-3 days and fertilize every other week.  Summer garden tips

I grow all of our herbs in the ground except sweet bay.  Sweet bay is a tender perennial and will not survive winters outside so I keep it in a pot to bring in each fall.    I had one a couple of years ago that was supposed to be hardy in our zone and it didn’t make it.  I put my new one in a pot and it has overwintered well in our unheated garage for the last four winters.  Fall is a good time to plant perennial herbs, veggies, fruits and flowers.

Rosemary is also tender.  I have tried the several varieties that are supposed to be able to survive a Midwest winter and have yet to find one that will last past 2 seasons.  I have tried to also keep in a pot and bring in each winter. This is an herb I will buy each spring if overwintering does not work out, plant in the garden, then preserve for the winter by harvesting late in the season and drying.

Flowers are doing great right now in the garden.  They are covered in beneficial insects, butterflies and butterfly caterpillars.  The zinnias, marigolds, petunias, Hummingbird vine, lantana, and Cock's Comb are putting on a big show.  The zinnias, marigolds and Cock's Comb are also edible.  Flowers that are edible
Red zinnia
I started my fall and winter edibles about 10 days ago.  I'm keeping them on the covered patio so they stay as cool as possible for germination.  About half are up so far.  

A quick reminder, save the seeds from your best performers that have been disease free to plant next year.  You can replant seeds from any heirlooms or open pollinated plants.  What do the terms GMO, natural, heirloom, organic, hybrid really mean?  Not only does it save you money, but it also gives you the plants that do the best under your garden and zone conditions.

Saturday, August 23, 2025

Get your fall and winter garden growing!

Kale in the winter garden

Saturday, August 23, 2025


The great thing about fall and winter edible gardens is little to no pests!  The insects die off in fall so your harvest is safe from pest destruction.  Once you have spent the effort to get the plants established and cool weather is here, fall and winter gardening is very low maintenance.  As it gets cooler, the veggies will get sweeter, too.

 

For more on how to choose varieties to grow, starting seeds and transplanting, see this post.  Time to plant for fall and winter harvests!   You're targeting for your edibles to be full size by early November before daylight hours dwindle to less than 10.  The winter slow down  

 

Look at the germination temperatures of the cool season crops you are starting from seed as some will not germinate well in the hot summer temperatures and you may have better luck starting them in shade or indoors.  Lettuce is one that germinates best at temperatures below 70F.  I like to start my seeds in pots in the shade on our north covered patio.  It gets morning sun but is shaded all afternoon.  Being on the patio lets me keep a close eye on them, too.  After they sprout and are a good size, I move into their permanent spot.

 

Here is a by month schedule of what to plant for fall and winter harvests in a Midwest garden. 

 

June

Seeds-Parsnips, potatoes 

 

July

Seeds-Beets, carrots, Asian greens (pak choi, tat-soi), cilantro, collard greens, endive, escarole, frisee, fennel, green beans, kale, kohlrabi, leeks, mustard, onions, parsnips, rutabaga, scallions, lettuce, sweet corn, turnips, turnip greens, and Swiss chard.  

Transplants-broccoli, Brussel sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, Chinese cabbage, Bibb lettuce.

 

August

Seeds-Beets, carrots, greens (arugula, Chinese cabbage, collard greens, corn salad, kale, lettuce, miner’s lettuce, spinach, mustard, endive, turnip greens), fava beans, green beans, herbs, kohlrabi, onions, snap peas, scallions, snow peas, rutabaga, winter and summer radishes, and turnips.  Early August is last chance for cucumbers, squash, and corn.

Transplants-Asian greens, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, Chinese cabbage, endive, kale, lettuce.  

 

September

Seeds-hardy lettuce and greens, kale, collards, turnips, radishes, kohlrabi, spinach, Asian greens, scallions, carrots, and winter radishes.  Quick maturing peas, favas, and bush beans at beginning of the month. 

Transplants-hardy lettuces, spinach, collards, broccoli, all perennials, trees, shrubs, greens, spinach

Greens in a portable greenhouse

October

Seeds-more spinach, kale, traditional southern and Asian greens, carrots, winter radishes, beets, short day onions if overwintering, peas, perennial onions, garlic and shallots.  In our Zone 7 garden, garlic and shallots can be planted into November.  Order your favorite garlic early as many sell out quick.  Time to plant garlic! With growing tips......

 

If you don’t want to start seeds, have waited too long for seed starting or just want to see what varieties do well in your area, some big box stores and local nurseries will have fall planting veggies.   If none in your area do, there are many mail order seed companies that carry fall bedding plants.

 

  Late August, early September is the best time to get transplants into the garden for fall and winter harvests.  Don't forget to fertilize when planting like you would in the spring.  Keep your transplants watered for them to get established until the fall rains start.

 

Extend the harvest by covering when the first frosts and freezes come to those crops that don’t overwinter without cover.  I grow all my greens and lettuce in pots that I cover around Thanksgiving when it gets consistently down in the 20’s.  I’ll still have lettuce and greens growing in the spring.

Sunday, August 17, 2025

What I planted this week for fall eating

"Well used" self watering pot I started my lettuce seeds in
Sunday, August 17, 2025

I started a variety of seeds on Friday for harvesting all fall and winter.  With a portable greenhouse, you can keep the Midwest lettuce salads going all the way to next spring.  This fall, my sowings are for lettuce, arugula, snow peas, chard, leaf mustards, chards, kales and other greens.

The challenge to starting cool season lovers from seed this time of year is that it can be so hot.  Lettuce seeds and other cool season loving plants will not germinate well in ground temps above 70 degrees F.  There are a couple of options for summer time seeding.  You can grow in shade, cover with a shade cloth or start your seedlings indoors move outdoors after they have sprouted.  Right now, it is hot with yesterday's high of 100 and the low of 73F.  The temperatures are supposed to go down somewhat next week with highs in the upper 80's and lows in the 60's.  Hopefully, this will be cool enough for my seeds to sprout.  Outdoor seed starting tips
I like to start in rectangular, self watering pots on our covered patio, close to the watering can on the northeast side of the house. Most of what I have sown will be up in 7 days if kept well watered and the temperatures are conducive.  I let them grow until they have the first set of true leaves and are about 2” tall.  I then transplant them into their permanent home, keeping them well watered for another couple of weeks.  I'll also keep an eye on the temperatures as highs in the 80's can cause cool temperature crops to bolt.  The trick this time of year to planting is getting the plants close to full size by November when daylight hours are too short to support growing.

Here is what I planted.  Be sure to label your seed rows!
Lettuces
You can start to harvest lettuce leaves in as little as 20 days from sowing.  I like to plant a variety of lettuces as they mature at different times.  This is a way to get a continuous crop of lettuce for salads.  I may have went a little overboard this time!  When the temperatures head to the 20's, I'll cover my greens with a portable greenhouse to keep the harvests coming all the way to spring.
Winter Density-a romaine type that is full size in 54 days
Tango-a leaf lettuce that is frilly and light green, full size in 45 days
Landis Winter-a butterhead lettuce that reaches full size in 50 days
North Pole-another butterhead lettuce that is full size in 50 days
Winter Crop-a headed lettuce so approximately 50-60 days
Winterwunder-a loose leaf that is full size in 60 days
Little Red Romaine-a romaine that is full size in 50 days
Bronze Beauty-full size in 40-50 days
Grand Rapids-full size in 45-60 days
Rouge d'Hiver-full size in 60 days
Royal Oak Leaf-full size in 45-55 days
Butter King-full size in 60 days
Red Sails-full size in 45-50 days
Celtuce-Chinese stem lettuce full size in 50-80 days
Spotted Aleppo Syrian Romaine-full size in 50-60 days
Rocky Top lettuce blend-35-50 days to full size

Spinach
Giant Winter-full size in 45-55 days
Oriental Giant-full size in 40 days

Greens
Provencal Winter mix-a variety of greens
Arctic Tundra mix-a variety of greens
Roquette Arugula-full size in 42 days
Mizuna Pink-40 days to full size
Hilton Chinese Cabbage-70 days to full size
Chijimisai Greens-full size in 50-60 days
Chinese Yellow Heart winter choy-45-70 days to full size

Swiss Chard
Barese Swiss chard-full size in 50 days
Japanese Mountain Spinach Swiss chard-full size in 30-40 days

Peas
Little Purple Snow Pea-27" vine, 50 days to harvest

Fruits for next spring
Mignonette Alpine Strawberry
Regina Alpine Strawberry

Ornamentals
Japanese Flowering Kale
Flowering Kale
Platinum Blue flower
Scarlet Echinacea cultivar-since it is seed saved from a cultivar, it may not produce the same as the parent
Blue Fescue grass

All of the greens will have leaves that are harvestable in about half the number of days to get to full size.  On the flip side, it generally takes longer for fall crops to get to full size than the packet says as the temperatures are getting cooler and the daylight shorter going into fall than in spring time.  A rule of thumb is 2 weeks longer to full size.

I like self watering pots because you can fill the reservoir without directly watering the soil surface.  With lettuce the seeds take light to germinate so they are very close to the surface.  Watering the soil itself can dislodge the seeds and move them all around the pot.  This isn't a catastrophe if you have all the same type planted in a pot, but since I have 8 varieties in the same pot, I don't want them moving around so I can see what germinates and how well they do through the season.  

You can start your seeds in any container you prefer.  If you do a coir or peat pot, you can just plant the entire thing in the garden bed after the seedling is up and going strong.  The drawback is that they have to be watered more as so much moisture wicks out of the permeable pot.

 

For this round, I watered the soil well, then planted the seeds, labelling each mini row in my rectangular pots that I start seeds in.  I will continue misting the top to keep the soil moist and filling the reservoir from the bottom.  You don't want the soil to dry out before the seeds have germinated.

After the seedlings are up, I'll wait until they have a few leaves and are about 2" or so tall before transplanting into larger pots for the winter.  Since I planted in August this year instead of September, I will also need to wait for the temperatures to cool down before transplanting.  I cover all my larger self watering pots later in the season when temperatures begin dipping into the 20's with a portable greenhouse to keep the greens going all winter.  How to extend the garden season

If you want to direct seed in your mulched flower bed, dig a shallow trench about a quarter inch deep, fill with potting soil, seed, pat down, then cover lightly with more potting soil.  Water well with a gentle stream of water so you don’t wash the seed away.  I use a rain head on my watering can.  Even better is to get the soil moist, then scatter the seeds, cover lightly with potting soil and pat gently.  Growing fabulous lettuce and greens 

I also have Purple Sprouting broccoli, Giant Blue Feather lettuce, other types of chard, Utah celery, and parsley that has self-seeded.  I should have plenty of greens for salads all the way through winter with covering my self-watering pots over these winter hardy plants.  

Saturday, August 16, 2025

My top 10 seed saving tips

Seeds from heirloom tomato bought in store

Saturday, August 16, 2025


Saving seeds has been the foundation of farming since it began thousands of years ago.  Seed saving is easy and saves you money.  Always save the seed from the best vegetable you grew! Or the tastiest you buy at the farmers market or store.

 

1.  Pick the fruit or plant that has the characteristics you want to grow again.  The one that was the biggest or had the best taste or produced the most or produced the longest or gave you harvests the earliest or was the most drought or pest resistant.  Whatever characteristic that you want to have in your garden next year is the plant's seeds you want to save from this year. 


2.  One caveat, you cannot get "true to parent" plants from hybrids or cultivars.  If they grow, they will often be totally different than the parent or could get weaker with each generation.  You need “open pollinated” or heirloom vegetables for the seed to for sure produce a baby like the parent.  You can always save seed from hybrids to try as an experiment, but don't be surprised if it is very different from the parent plant.  


3.  Some plants “cross pollinate” with others like it if close to each other.  Others rarely do.  The ones that do not are called “self-pollinating”, ie, they pollinate themselves.  Examples of cross pollinators are zucchini, pumpkins, and zinnias.  If you want to save seeds from them, you’ll have to either grow only one variety or plant them a mile apart and hope your neighbors aren’t growing them, too!


4.     It doesn't cost a thing to save seeds from store bought veggies or fruits you like and you can end up with some great plants for your garden!  To be sure that the seeds you save will come back true to the parent, heirloom is a sure bet.  One of my favorite paste tomatoes is one I saved the seed from a tomato bought from the store.


5.     Do not save seeds from any diseased plant as the disease can be in the seed itself and passed to the new plant.  You wouldn't want to save seed from a plant that is susceptible to disease any way.  You want to save seeds from plants that thrive in your garden conditions.  


6.     For garlic, you save the best, biggest cloves.  You divide up the garlic head into individual cloves and plant them in the fall when it cools off.  Typically, sometime in October or November.  Most store bought garlic has been treated to prevent them from sprouting so you may or may not have luck using the ones from the grocery store.  Organic garlic is not treated. Your farmers market is also a great place to get garlic well suited for your area.


7.  In our garden, seeds can be saved from tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, zucchini, lettuce, broccoli, cilantro, dill, celery, borage, salad burnet, garlic, okra, Egyptian walking onions (bulblets), and basil.  I have many zinnia, amaranth, garlic chives, celosia, and basil "volunteers" in the garden every year from seeds dropped by the plant last fall.


8.  For peppers, squash and tomatoes, just scoop out the seeds, lay them on a paper towel on a plate and let them dry completely.  Some suggest for tomato seed to put them in water and let them ferment a bit.  The ones that sink are the ones you want to keep for planting, not the ones that float.  After drying, I put in plastic baggies and keep in the frig to prolong seed life.  Don't forget to label the variety and date saved.

I have finally found/grown two kinds of sweet peppers that produce well.  I'll keep saving the seed and growing them out.  They are now a mainstay for my garden.  This year I had great luck with California bell peppers so I will try these again next season. 


9.   Many greens, like chard, parsley, lettuce, broccoli, will shoot a large stalk up then flower.  This is called "bolting."  The easiest thing to do is to let the seeds form, cut the stalk, then put the stalks with seed heads attached into a paper bag.  Let them dry thoroughly, then shake the seeds out.  Some may require that you roll the seed heads between your fingers to free the seed.  

You can actually re-sow seeds from cool season crops like lettuce, cilantro, parsley, chard, chives and get a second fall/winter harvest!  I re-sow seeding about every other week starting the first of September.  In about two weeks, you will have sprouting greens.  When they have grown a bit more, I will separate and transplant into pots and the garden.  I like starting seeds in long narrow pots what are self-watering to be able to move easily to the best growing conditions.  Can also move under the portable greenhouse when it gets cold.


 10.   I put my dried seeds in labelled ziplock bags and store them in the refrigerator, include the seed type, descriptor and date.  A picture of the plant can be helpful to remember the plant the seed belongs to.  Fun gift to give, too.  You can use any sealed container to save seeds.  The seeds last for years this way! 


Last year, I have saved seeds from the best tasting butternut squash I have grown ever, Giant Blue Feather lettuce, Egyptian walking onions, garlic, orange Cactus and California Giant zinnias, cockscomb, Turkish Orange and Antigua eggplant, my bushiest sweet basil and Cardinal basil, Purple Yard Long and Blauhilde pole beans, Christmas Speckles lima beans, many different types of squash and Jigsaw pepper seeds.  I left my celery, Red Malabar spinach, celosias, and some Giant Blue Feather lettuce plants go to seed for volunteers in the spring.

 

For more information on gardening, see these blogs:

What do the terms GMO, natural, heirloom, organic, hybrid really mean?

October is prime time to plant garlic

Try self-seeding veggies and flowers

Tomatoes 101, everything you need to know to grow ...
Growing zucchini and summer squash
Warm joys of winter squash

 Peppers are for every taste and garden

Ideal soil temperatures for starting your seeds
Outdoor seed starting tips