What's happening in the early October edible garden

Sunday, October 5, 2025

This is a time of year that most summer vegetables are winding down and cold crops are growing quickly.  With frost, many summer vegetables will die and cold season crops will get sweeter.  The biggest difference between spring and fall is that the days are getting shorter and cooler instead of longer and warmer.  For planting in the fall, add 2 weeks to the "Days to harvest" on seed packets to compensate.

We continue to fertilize our vegetables monthly.  Fertilizer stimulates new growth so don't fertilize the plants that are "tender"/susceptible to frost.  This is also a great time to do a soil test.  Healthy garden soil secrets  You can see what amendments are needed.  Get them on now so the amendments are fully available for spring crops.

Fall is also a great time to re-mulch the garden beds to give an added blanket of warmth protection to prolong the season.  The mulch will break down over the winter, providing additional organic matter.

Be sure that you are saving seeds from your best producers for next year's garden.  Seeds from plants that do well in your garden are the best to save as they are proven to like your garden conditions and give you the produce you like.  Always save seed from the best tasting, best sized veggies.  For any plants with disease, do not keep their seeds or compost.  Seed saving-fun, easy and a cost saver

I replanted cucumbers and tomatoes this year in late summer.  I only got a couple of cucumbers and I have several baby tomatoes on the tomato plants.  It is not a bad idea to replant tomatoes, cucumbers, and zucchini in mid June each year to keep these plants at top producing vigor until frost.  For tomatoes, be sure to take all the tomatoes off the vine before it frosts.  You can either wrap the green tomatoes in newspaper and store in a cool place to ripen, make them into relish, or eat them as fried.  For fried green tomatoes, we use Andy’s Cajun batter.  Gives them a nice, spicy flavor.  A late fall tradition-fried green tomatoes!

Our eggplants are still producing well this year.  I am grilling our extras this year and making baba ganoush that I freeze.  Grilling adds a smoky note to the dip.  I have tried freezing eggplant after blanching and after cooking, but the taste just wasn't the same.  Frozen baba ganoush seems to keep its taste well.  We enjoy eating it with pita bread or chips.

Any plant that has a disease, do not compost!  Throw away in the trash.  Composting may not kill all spores and you could be spreading the disease next season wherever you use the compost.  Composting is possible in small spaces or even indoors

Peppers love this time of year.  They are native to the mountains so they love warm days with cool nights.   They will continue to produce even after frost.  To prolong the season, I put the pots up against the house when it cools down later this month.  You can also bring them indoors and they will produce for weeks inside.  When spring comes and you put them back outside, they will get a jump start on producing next year.  Peppers a Plenty in September

I have Ancho pepper plants in a pot.  I have been harvesting and drying Ancho Anaheim peppers for a month or so.  I dry and make chili powder.  All the sweet peppers have been producing since late July.

Peppers are for every taste and garden

My Trombetta zucchini are finally producing well.  I love Trombetta squash plants as they resist squash bug diseases.  My yard long beans have been producing for about a month.  Yard long beans are heavy producers as long as you have a high trellis or arbor as the vines grow 20' long.  Both will continue until we get a killing frost.

Trombetta squash, berry bushes and pole bean bed

For basil, the plants are quickly regenerating.  You can harvest from them a few times a season.  These are very tender annuals and will turn black with the first frost.  You can dig them up and bring them in for the winter.  Place them in a full sun spot.  You can put them back outside again in the spring after all danger of frost has passed.  Basil basics-harvesting, preserving, growing basil

I planted some snow pea, spinach, and lettuce seeds in pots in mid August.   About half came up because it was so hot in August and September and cool season crops don't germinate well in hot temperatures.  I need to transplant them into their winter spot in Earthboxes that I cover with a portable greenhouse to keep salads going until spring.  Plant lettuce seed now for fall and winter harvest...

Cabbage, kale, broccoli, carrots, lettuce, chard, onions, arugula and other cold crops get sweeter with cool weather and a nice frost.  If the taste of these are too strong for your palate right now, give them another chance after frost.  Our Egyptian walking onions are lush and green.  The bulbs are filling out nicely.  Egyptian walking onions

This is also the perfect time of year to reseed your lawn or transplant perennials.  Many herbs are perennials-garlic, sprouting onions, lavender, oregano, chives, sage, tarragon, thyme, savory, salad burnet, and rosemary.  There are varieties of Bay Laurel and rosemary that are supposed to be hardy in Zone 7.  So far, they haven't survived consistently in my garden.  They'll make it until early spring and then get killed by a hard freeze after a warm up.  I keep trying rosemary, though.  For bay laurel, I just keep it in a pot and bring indoors every winter.  Perennial veggies in the Midwest garden

Fall is a great time to cut back your herbs.  Save the stems, place loosely in a paper bag, put in a dry location, and in about a month you will have all the dried herbs you and many family members will need for the next year!  Make your own "Herbes de Provence"

Fall is a bountiful time for gardening.  Cabbage, kale, broccoli, brussels sprouts and onions will do fine in the garden with no cover.  The cold hardy greens and veggies I have planted will produce all fall and winter with the portable greenhouse cover.  How to extend the garden season  

What to plant in the October edible garden

Fall edible garden

 Saturday, October 4, 2025 

October is a great time to plant garlic to have big cloves by next summer.  Many cold hardy crops can be transplanted into the garden, too.  Cover can be used to extend the harvest all the way through to spring.  

What is a four season garden?
You can garden year round in small space
Planning for a four season garden

This month you can transplant more greens, any perennial veggies, fruits, and herbs as well as flowers, trees and shrubs.   Midwest Perennial Vegetable Garden   Greens can still be sown by seed if you have a cold frame or a portable greenhouse cover.  Sow the seeds, then after sprouting and developing a couple of sets of leaves, you can put a cover over them at night to keep them warm and growing faster.  You want your plants to be as close to full size by mid November as you can get!  That's when the daylight hours get less than 10 hours and growth outdoors pretty much slows to a crawl.

Here are the crops you can start in the October Midwest edible garden:

October seeds outdoors
Austrian winter peas

Fava beans

Garlic

Lettuce-winter hardy varieties

Snow peas

Spring bulbs

October transplants
Arugula

Broccoli
Brussel sprouts

Cabbage

Cauliflower

Celery
Corn salad

Endive
Escarole

Frisee
Italian dandelion

Kale

Kohlrabi
Lettuce
Mache
Mustard and Mustard Greens

Winter and Perennial Onions

Parsley

Scallions

Shallots

Sorrel
Spinach

Sprouting broccoli

Trees, bushes, and perennials

Transplants for winter and overwintering

Look for cold hardy edible varieties when planting for fall and winter harvests.  You may be surprised that you can harvest all through the winter months things like greens, onions, Austrian peas, carrots, and cabbage.  You can also extend the harvest by looking for the same crop with different days to harvest timing so that they mature at different times.  

Covering plants when there is a cold snap in the fall will keep them warmer and growing quicker.  You can use cover to possibly extend the harvest all the way to next spring.  I use a portable greenhouse for my lettuces that works great.  Extend the season with protection for plants  Homegrown, organic salads in a Midwest winter

When planting when temperatures can get hot, be sure to keep the soil moist until the plants are well established.  Lettuce won't sprout when the ground temperatures are above 75F.  If it is too hot in your garden, you can start them indoors.  My lettuce seedlings are starting to get their first set of true leaves.  I'll likely transplant them in another week or two to their winter pot.  

Summer and fall planted crops take longer to come to harvest than they do when planted in the spring.  Rule of thumb is to add 2 weeks to what the "Days to Harvest" on the seed packet.  It's because the days are getting shorter rather than longer and cooler rather than warmer.  

Once there are less than 10 hours of daylight, most plants growth will slow to a crawl.  This occurs at our latitude on November 24 this year.  We get back to more than 10 hours of daylight on January 17.  Once we get back to 10 hours of daylight, plants come to life and start growing quickly again.

What you want to do is to start your seeds and transplants early enough in late summer and fall so that the plant is at full size before daylight gets short and the cold really sets in.  Then you harvest what you want through the winter.

A great and easy way to start your fall garden is to sow the seeds in a pot on a covered deck or patio.  This makes it easy to keep an eye on the seedlings and protects them from the hot sun and frosts.  After they have a couple of sets of their true leaves, you can transplant into the garden bed or pot.  Harden them off first by moving the pot to full sun before transplanting.  "Hardening off" seedlings  After transplanting into the garden, keep them watered regularly during dry weather until well established.

For more seed starting tips Outdoor seed starting tips  Indoor seed starting tips  Ideal soil temperatures for starting your seeds

You can also get fall transplants on-line and at local nurseries.  So if you haven't started seeds yet or don't have the time, this is another great option to have a fall and winter garden for fresh eating.

October 2025 Edible Garden Planner

Early October edible garden is in full bloom

Wednesday, October 1, 2025

Gardening in October is refreshing, like the weather.  Pests are fading fast as the weather cools.  The sun shines brightly to take the chill off the cool days.  The summer vegetables like tomatoes, eggplant, peppers, basil and okra continue to produce at a reduced pace.  The cool season crops like lettuce, carrots, radishes, peas, cabbage, beets, broccoli and cauliflower are coming into maturity throughout October and into November.  Flowers, bees and butterflies are abundant in the fall garden.

Now is the last call to save seeds from your favorite fruits and veggie plants if you haven't done so already.  The plants still producing well this time of year are great ones to make sure you have some seeds to plant again next year.  The varieties that do well in your garden conditions are ones you want to invite back!  Just be sure to not save seed from any plants that are diseased as this can bring the disease back into your garden in the spring.  Seed saving-fun, easy and a cost saver

Basil will turn black when it gets close to 35 degrees.  I pull all the leaves when it is forecasted to get close to freezing or any chance of frost.  You can chop basil, put in an ice cube tray and cover with water to then use any time your recipe calls for fresh basil.  It stores best when frozen in water.  I also dry some to add to my "Herbes de Provence" seasoning mix.  Most of my harvest I make into pesto and place in freezer bags with just enough for a meal.  Gives a whole new meaning to “fast food.”  Pesto is great over pasta, fish, or as a condiment on sandwiches.  Basil will root from cuttings if you want to bring it in for the winter.  Basil basics-harvesting, preserving, growing basil...

The bees just love basil flowers!  Bees favorite flowers are those with small flowers like basil.  The purple holy basil flowers mixed with the white sweet basil flowers are quite pretty, too, as well as very fragrant.  If you want to keep the stems from getting woody on these types of basil, keep the flowers pinched back.  I always have Cardinal basil as well in my garden.  The leaves are great in pesto, the flowers are showy, and they don't get woody stems like traditional sweet basil does.  

Bee on basil flower

Other herbs will do just fine through frosts like parsley, rosemary, thyme, chives, tarragon, winter savory, and sage.  It takes good snow cover to stop these herbs.  Many winters you can harvest these herbs the entire season for cooking.  Cut back the extra now, dry and make into seasoning mixes which you can give to the whole family at Christmas.   Make your own "Herbes de Provence" 

I will wait until it gets below 32 degrees before I strip off the eggplant, peppers and tomatoes.  You can freeze or dry these veggies.  Tomatoes are a high acid fruit so you can also easily can sauce from them without using a pressure canner; a stockpot is all that is needed.   Preserving the tomato harvest  Be sure to follow any canning recipes exactly so your canned goods don’t spoil.  

For more on preserving your extras for year round use, see

 Preservation garden

24 No Tech Storage Fruits and Vegetables

Peppers, tomatoes, and eggplants are tropical perennials that can be brought in to overwinter.  If you have a favorite plant you would love to have in your garden next season, bring it in to an attached garage or even your living room.  I have successfully overwintered hot peppers, dwarf tomatoes and a few eggplants.  You get a serious jump start on the season in the spring if they over winter.  I am bringing in my tiny hot pepper plant Chipetlin to overwinter for the eighth year, my Jigsaw pepper, Bakouti hot pepper plants for their second year and a couple of dwarf tomato plants I am trying.  I'll also have indoor basil as they volunteer in the tropical plants I bring in every fall.

There are several herbs that can be brought indoors as well.  Basil and chives are great ones to grow indoors in a sunny window since they loses so much flavor when dried and they are easy to grow indoors.  Growing herbs indoors for winter

Make sure you pull the tomatoes from the vine before the vine dies.  Wondering what to do with the green tomatoes?  You have a couple of options.  You can make fried green tomatoes-yum!  Just use some fish fry seasoning; we like Andy’s Cajun Seasoning.  A late fall tradition-fried green tomatoes!  You can also wrap green tomatoes in newspaper and store in a cool, dark location and many will ripen.  Check about weekly to cull any that spoil.  They won’t taste as good as fresh off the vine, but are better than store bought.  I have had tomatoes this way into February.

Potted tomatoes first of November

As the vines die back and the fruit loses its sheen, it is time to harvest winter squash. Winter squash include the well known pumpkins, butternut squash, acorn squash and spaghetti squash among many others.   Be sure to leave at least a couple of inches of the stem and place in a warm sunny spot for the skin to harden.  Many winter squashes will keep until next year.  I have had butternut and Trombetta squash last until the next summer.  Harvesting winter squash

October and November is garlic and shallot planting month for the Zone 7 garden!  Plant in the waning cycle of the moon.  Garlic and shallots loves loose, well-fertilized soil.  Loosen the soil down to about 6 inches, mix in a couple of inches of compost, and plant your cloves about 2-3” deep.  Time to plant garlic! With growing tips......  Garlic and shallot leaves are one of the first greens you will see in spring.  Don't be surprised to see them sprout this winter.

Now is also a great time to divide any perennials you have, whether they be herbs, edibles or ornamentals.  This will give them all fall and winter to put down strong roots.  Perennial greens (like chard, sorrel, cultivated dandelions, salad burnet) are always the first up in the spring.  This is the perfect time to plant any perennial plant.  The fall and winter allows the plants roots to grow deep, preparing it for a fast start in the spring.  Perennial veggies in the Midwest garden

It is still not too late in early October to transplant fall crops like cold hardy types of lettuce, cabbage, chard, pak choi, broccoli, kale, parsley or perennial herb plants.  You can check your neighborhood nurseries for bedding plants.  I use my Aerogarden or just a pot on the covered patio to start from seed cold hardy crops I want in my fall and winter garden.  Starting them indoors gets them going quicker.  With less sun and cooler temps outdoors, plants grow more slowly so getting bedding plants or starting indoors gets your fall veggies to full size quicker.  Add about 2 weeks to the "Days to Harvest" timing for fall planted edibles.

Cloches and portable row cover

To extend the season, you can order a mini greenhouse to cover your pots or the part of the garden you have planted your cold hardy greens you want to harvest all winter.  You can also purchase row covers that cover plants and provides protection from frosts, but not hard freezes.  Adding mulch is a good winter blanket for cool season crops.  Preparing the garden for frost

Winter hardy kale, spinach, Austrian peas, carrots and winter onions don’t need to be covered and can be harvested all winter (as long as the ground isn’t too frozen) and into spring.  I grow Austrian peas over winter and they provide greens for salad all winter long.  They have very pretty flowers, too.  Come spring I have lots of early peas too.

I’ll put our portable, plastic mini greenhouse over the greens in my Earthbox self watering pots sometime this month or next.  One watchout with green houses-they get very, very hot in sunny weather so be sure to open them to allow circulation in fall and early winter.  They will need to be closed up when winter really sets in December or January sometime.

Portable greenhouse over pots

Healthy garden soil secrets

Spring garden bed and pots

Monday, September 29, 2025

Soil is a living thing.  It has millions of microbes, worms, and insects making their home in the dirt we call garden soil.  Plants need nutrition, water, and living soil to bring the nutrients to the plants and keep the soil structure optimal.  Like people who need more than just carbs, fats and protein for good health, plants need more than just NPK (nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium) to grow with optimal nutrition and yields. 

There are 5 major things to look at for support of plant health and growth in your garden:

pH-significant effect on what nutrients are available in the soil for the plant to access

NPK-the major three for soil fertility on a macro scale

Minerals-plants need a variety of minerals just like people do for optimal health

Soil tilth-everyone talks about loamy soil, one that is light with lots of organic matter

Soil microbes and worms-healthy, living soil support

pH

The "ideal" pH for most garden vegetables is 6.5, slightly acidic.  A pH test is always good to do.  Most vegetables grow well in a pH of 6.5, which is slightly acidic.  Anything below 6 is so acidic that it binds the minerals like phosphorous, potassium and calcium.  Much higher than 6.5, the soil ties up iron and zinc.  Most extension offices will recommend that you do bring down your pH when you get above 7.5.  You can get a pH tester at any big box store or local nursery.  They are super simple to do.

There are a few plants that require a more acidic soil to really flourish like blueberries (4.5-5.5) and blackberries (5.5-6.5).  Crop pH tolerances

In general, gardens in rainy climates have acidic soil as the minerals get washed out of the soil and those in arid are alkaline.  To raise pH, lime is used.  To lower pH, sulfur is used.  It takes months for soil pH to change after lime or sulfur are added.  Fall is a great time to test soil pH so you can add amendments now to get your soil in the optimal range by spring.  Compost acts as a buffer to help balance soil pH but that depends on what is in the compost.

I grow my edibles in my mulched flower beds.  Over time the hardwood mulch I used raises the pH in my garden beds.  I use sulfur to lower the pH to get back in the 6.5-7.5 range. 

NPK

The major nutrients that we are all most familiar with when it comes to fertilizing is NPK (nitrogen, phosphorous, potassium).  These three elements are foundational to plant growth.  They are the numbers you see in any bag of fertilizer, ie, 10-5-8 will be 10% nitrogen, 5% phosphorous, and 8% potassium.  

Nitrogen supports green, leafy growth.  Potassium supports strong stems, root development and seed and fruit development.  Phosphorous encourages flower blooms and movement of water in the plant.  Different plants require different amounts of each of these nutrients depending on if they are mainly grown for their foliage (like lettuce) or fruits (like tomatoes).   Greens will use more nitrogen while fruiting vegetables need more phosphorous and potassium.  Giving fruiting vegetables high amounts of nitrogen will give you big, beautiful green plants with few fruits.  More is not always better......

Make your own fertilizer, it's all natural and inexpensive

You can get an easy tester at any garden center or big box store to test your pH.  You can also take a soil sample in to your local extension office and they'll test it for you.  Some provide the testing for free; others may charge a minimal fee.  They will also provide recommendations on what to add if needed to bring your soil into the optimal range.

County agriculture extension office locator

Minerals

Just like protein, carbs and fat are not the whole story of nutrition for us, NPK is not the whole story for plant health.  Plants need a variety of minerals for optimal growth and resiliency against pests and drought conditions.  I either use kelp meal when fertilizing or Azomite to get minerals in the soil.  I make sure I am adding minerals in the spring.  When the soil has more minerals, so do the plants, and then so do our harvests and what we eat.  

For more details on analysis of your garden soil and links to sites to help you get your garden in balance, see this blog:

The next step in garden production and your nutrition-soil minerals      

Soil tilth/type

The "ideal" soil is one that is light and fluffy, but not sandy.  You want soil that water doesn't just run through (like sand) or so dense that roots can't grow easily and water can't escape (like clay).  If plant roots stay in water logged soils, they can't breathe and will rot.  The way to get the optimal soil density is to add organic matter through mulch and compost.  I do both.  

I add mulch to keep the weeds down, keep the soil temperature steady, keep the soil moist in summer, and to add organic matter.  Over the course of a 2-3 years, you will have a nice thick black layer of organic material plants love.  Mulch also encourages earthworms which both till the soil making it loose for plant roots and add nitrogen

Weed free, self fertilizing, till free garden beds

I also add compost.  Before I was composting myself, I would buy compost and add a layer in the spring, then put down fertilizer and top with mulch to keep all the nutrients in the soil.  We also save our leaves in the fall and use the composted leaves in the garden beds along with our chicken bedding.

Composting is possible in small spaces or even indoors

Soil microbes and worms

You want a soil that is teeming with microbes and worms.  Microbial diversity helps bring the nutrition to the plant, similar to the microbes in our digestive system.  Good microbial population is helped by using compost and staying away from chemical fertilizers.

Worms are great for burrowing in the soil to make it nice and loose as well as fertilizing.  One way to attract earth worms is to lay cardboard on the soil, then top with compost, fertilizer and mulch.  Earthworms love cardboard! 

Getting good harvests depends on first having healthy, living, nutrient rich soils to support robust plants.  The healthier the plants, the healthier the food we get from them.  It is a win-win all the way around.

You really are what you eat! 

Great time to harvest and preserve basil

Cardinal basil

Sunday, September 20, 2025

Basil is a native of Africa and other tropical areas of Asia where it has been cultivated for over 5,000 years.  It is a culinary herb that sends cooks into poetic rapture.  It is probably the favorite of the “sweet” herbs and well known from its use in Mediterranean cuisine.  It has a spicy bite when eaten fresh.  Because it hails from the tropics, it melts with the first frost so make sure you are harvesting while you can.

Basil turns black when temps get close to freezing.  Be sure to harvest all leaves when it looks like you are getting a frost.  You can also take the the tips and place in water to grow roots and pot indoors for winter harvests.  You can dig up the plant and repot to bring indoors.  Be sure to put in a sunny window.  Basil won’t thrive indoors, but you will get enough to use as seasoning in your favorite dishes and return to the garden in the spring. 

Basil in the foreground

Harvesting Basil

You get multiple harvests from each plant in a season.  I can get three harvests in our Zone 7 garden.  I take my last harvest right before the first frost.  I wait until the last minute as the pollinators love basil flowers so I leave them growing for as long as possible.  You can harvest the stems that don't have flowers or have finished flowering now and not take away the pollinators food source.

Basil plant after harvested

Basil before harvesting

Preserving Basil

You can freeze, dry, make basil into pesto, basil butter, basil vinegar, or basil oil.  

For freezing, you can freeze chopped leaves into ice cubes to be able to pop into sauces. You can also blanch and freeze.  If you don’t blanch, the frozen herb does not keep its color or flavor.  Blanching is simply throwing the herb leaves in a pot of boiling water for about 30 seconds and then quickly plunge them into a bowl or sink of ice water.  Dry the leaves then put the leaves on a cookie sheet, place in the freezer and when frozen, remove and put in quart freezer bags.  Now you can have fresh basil flavor anytime you need it!

Harvested basil stems

For drying, I place the cut stems into a paper bag that I put in a dry, warm place.  You can also tie in bunches and hang upside down to dry.  Be sure to leave lots of open space between stems to discourage any mold.  When completely dry, I remove the leaves and place in canning jars.

I will take all of my dried herbs for the season and make it into my own blend of "Herbes de Provence" that I use on and in everything!  Make your own "Herbes de Provence"

My favorite way to preserve basil is to make pesto.  Pesto is a mixture of fresh basil, traditionally pine nuts (but I use any kind of nut I have on hand-walnuts, pecans, sunflower seeds, cashews), parmesan cheese, a few cloves of garlic, and olive oil.  You can add spinach or parsley.  Just throw them all together in a food processor and ta-da pesto!

I use about 8 cups of packed leaves (be sure to exclude any tough stems), 1/2 cup nuts, 1 cup of olive oil, 1 and 3/4 cup of Parmesan, 8 cloves of fresh garlic and a teas of salt.  After processing, I put half in a quart freezer bag, lay flat in the freezer until ready to use.  Just thaw and toss with your favorite pasta or add to pizza, bruschetta, sandwiches or sauce for a quick and tasty meal.  

Pesto ready to freeze

For basil butter, chop the basil and mix 1 Tbl, or to taste, into softened butter.

For basil vinegar, choose a white vinegar so that the taste of the basil shines through.  Place fresh basil leaves into an empty bottle and cover with vinegar.  Place in cool, dark area for a month.  Shake daily.  Strain out leaves and use!  You can accelerate the infusion process by covering the leaves with boiling vinegar.  Your creation will be ready in a week.

For basil flavored oil, chop 1 cup of leaves.  Heat 1 cup of oil on low, add herbs, stirring for 3-4 minutes.  Strain out leaves and keep oil refrigerated.  

Lots of options!

Quick tip-sowing lettuce seeds when it is still hot

Saturday, September 20, 2025

Lettuce is a cool season leafy green.  Until temperatures cool off in summer, you may think your lettuce seeds are no good because you are not getting them to sprout outdoors.  If it is still hot outdoors, the culprit is likely just the heat.  The seeds will not germinate well in ground temps above 70 degrees F.  

There are a couple of options for late summer time seeding of lettuce.  You can grow in shade, cover with a shade cloth or start your seedlings indoors and transplant outdoors.

I like to start mine in long pots in the shade, close to the watering can on the northeast side of the house.  The seedlings will be up in 7 days if kept well watered.  I let them grow until they have the first set of true leaves, are about 2” tall, and temperatures are no longer in the 80's for highs.  If transplanted before it cools down, they can bolt.  I transplant them into their permanent home, fertilize and keep them well watered for another couple of weeks or until the fall rains start.

I put all my greens in self watering Earthboxes that I cover with a portable greenhouse when it starts getting below freezing.  This method keeps us in salads all winter long.  

Homegrown, organic salads in a Midwest winter

How to extend the garden season

If you want to direct seed in your flower bed, dig a shallow trench about a half inch deep, fill with potting soil, seed, pat down, then cover lightly with more potting soil.  Lettuce seed requires some light to germinate so don't bury too deep.

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.  Until the average temperature gets below 70F, germination may be erratic planting directly in the garden bed, but they should eventually sprout when it cools off. 

What's happening in the mid-September edible garden

Edible and decorative front garden bed

Sunday, September 14, 2025

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 with temps in the mid 90's this coming week.  

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, my Yard Long beans are producing very well, there are a few tomatoes on 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.  

Herbs are doing well.  The basil and oregano is in full bloom.  The bees are loving both of these plants along with the zinnias, celosias, marigolds and lavender.  Now is a great time to harvest all your herbs.  I do need to harvest sage as I am out of it.

Time to harvest and preserve your herbs

Cardinal basil in forefront and Genovese basil in background

Many of the winter lettuce seed I planted a couple weeks ago has sprouted.  They're not growing much yet.  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.  All will do great under cover all winter. 

I dug all my shallots and garlic last month.  I will divide and replant them next month.  They can be planted as late as November in our zone.

Time to plant perennial onions, garlic and shallots

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.  

How to choose garlic to grow

My volunteer zinnias, cock's comb, and flame celosias did really well again this year.  I had a bonanza of different colors of zinnias and my cock's comb flower heads were huge.  I'm sure I will have many volunteers come up again next year.  The California Giant orange zinnias just glowed in my front yard pot.

Fuschia pin cushion zinnia

Hummingbird vine, Heavenly morning glory, and Red Malabar spinach volunteer vines went a little crazy this summer.  I did a better job this year of pulling most of them.  

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.

Reflections on the 2024 edible garden and the 2025 plan

Time to harvest and preserve your herbs

Multicolor sage

September 13, 2025

End of summer is a great time to tidy garden beds and harvest herbs.  Herbs have a tendency to take a walk on the wild side.  As the days get shorter, growth slows and before long the sun cannot support all the greenery from summer.

Rosemary

Fall 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.  Herbs are expensive in the store and you get a huge amount from just trimming back your herb plants.  Enough for you and Christmas gifts!

For soft herbs like chives and garlic chives, I cut around the outside.  You can either then dry or freeze your cuttings.  Soft herbs don't retain as much of their flavor when dried.

For basil, I keep a pot indoors over the winter to have fresh basil whenever I need it.  I do harvest basil during the summer and fall to make pesto.  It just doesn't retain much flavor when dried.  Pesto is a great way to preserve your basil.  I freeze in freezer bags and have a quick meal ready to go anytime.  Basil also will not survive even a frost.  So when they call for frost, I harvest all that is left on the plant.

Time to harvest basil 

For rosemary, you can trim the bush into a more pleasing shape or just take the outer third of growth.  I have not been successful in finding a rosemary that survives outside in my Zone 7 region.  My rosemary plants survive the winter but when we have our normal warm up in January or February followed by another deep freeze, it kills the plant.  So in late fall/early winter, I will harvest all the limbs so I don't waste any of that great flavor.  Rosemary is perfect with lamb, on potatoes, or on cheese bread.

For sage, savory, and thyme, I simply trim them into a healthy shape.  For basil, oregano and marjoram, I remove about a third of the top growth.  

Thyme

I dry my herbs to preserve them.  I put 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.  

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

I also keep a gallon freezer bag of a mix of all the herbs in my garden to use in sauces, on meats, in soup, stews, just about anything I cook.  It's a favorite request of family and friends for their own pantry.

Make your own "Herbes de Provence"

If the winter is not a bad one, most perennial herbs like chives, oregano, sage, winter savory, and thyme can be harvested year round straight from the garden.