What's happening in the early September edible garden

September edible garden

Saturday, September 10, 2022

Self seeding flowers like zinnias, hummingbird vine, Love Lies Bleeding, marigolds and cock's comb are in full splendor right now.  Edible Mediterranean plants love this weather, too.  Tomatoes, eggplant, peppers, okra, Egyptian walking onions, cucumbers, the Mediterranean herbs like basil, rosemary, sage, oregano, chives, savory, dill, tarragon and thyme and all types of greens enjoy the bright sunshine and temperatures in the 80's.  I am preserving everything we have extra right now.  It is so rewarding to know that we can eat food we grew year round.

In the last week, temperatures have moderated to the lower to mid 80's.  We have had a couple of nights that have dipped into the 50's.  It is starting to cool down some and the days are definitely getting shorter.

What I am harvesting at the beginning of September: tomatoes, okra, herbs, hot and sweet peppers, cucumbers, summer squash, Goji berries, figs, raspberries, snap pole beans, winged beans, greens (sweet mustard varieties, cultivated dandelions, Red Malabar spinach, sprouting broccoli), onions, chives, Shiitake mushrooms, celery. 

In bloom are zinnias, jasmine, lantana, daylily, marigold, Love Lies Bleeding amaranth, Cock's Comb, petunia, thyme, basil, oregano, mustard.   

I have been fertilizing every other week with a liquid natural fertilizer since I am growing most of my veggies in pots.  With natural fertilizers you don’t have to worry about “burning” your plants as they slowly release into the soil.   You should fertilize about once a month with a solid fertilizer or biweekly with a liquid fertilizer through the growing season.  You don’t want to shoot too much nitrogen to your fruit producers as you can end up with all leaves and no veggie fruits.  

I transplanted my lettuce seedlings from pots on the covered patio to their overwintering spot in self-watering pots that I will cover with a portable greenhouse in November.  I start my lettuce seedlings in the summer on the shaded patio because lettuce doesn't like the high temperatures and won't germinate well if the ground temperature is 75F or higher.  I also have mustard greens, cultivated dandelions, sprouting broccoli, cress, Red Malabar spinach and amaranth for salads.   Homegrown, organic salads in a Midwest winter

It is important to get all your winter and overwintering veggies and greens up to full size prior to early November.  The days are so short come November that there will be minimal growth from November to mid January.  A fall edible garden

Okra leaves up front, sweet potato vines, zinnias and cock's comb behind

This year was not a banner year for my tomatoes.  I planted them in a new spot this year and did not enrich the soil.  We have been so busy trying to get our renovation done that I haven't spent alot of time on the garden.  We are still getting some fruits from the tomatoes but they are producing slowly and the plants are spindly.  

There is still enough tomatoes that I am continuing to freeze what we don't ear.  Fall is the time that I will take any frozen tomatoes left over from last year and can.  This year, I likely won't make them all into sauce since I haven't put as many in the freezer as is typical and I still have sauce left from last year.  I like to keep frozen tomatoes to add to soups and chili and to make salsa.  Preserving the tomato harvest       Easy, low tox canning of summer's bounty

The chives, rosemary, tarragon, thyme, oregano, basil, celery, and sage are all doing quite well.  The Egyptian walking onions are thriving.  All will do well through the fall and into the winter.  Use your own herbs for your Thanksgiving dinner

My pepper plants are doing fine.  The plants grew quite well this year in their pots. The Ancho Poblano pepper plants are full of green peppers as is the sweet pepper plant.  The cayenne pepper plant has been producing well since early summer.  I have been freezing all the extras off the cayenne.  I took one harvest from the Poblanos, dried them and made chili powder.  Peppers a Plenty in September

For peppers, if you want to maximize the harvest, pick them as soon as they get to full size and are green versus letting them fully ripen to red, yellow, or orange on the plant.  This stimulates the plant to produce more.  If you let them fully ripen on the plant, the taste will be sweeter but the harvest less.  I compromise and take them off just when they start to turn.  They complete ripening on the counter in a few days.

My potted okra plants didn't produce much.  They are only about 5 feet tall with a single stalk straight up.  I'll put them in the ground next year.  Okra seems to do much better in the garden bed than in a pot.

Basil in front, okra to left, cock's comb on right, zinnias in background

I had 2 cucumber plants in a pot.  All have been doing very well.  I get about 2 cucumbers from them daily. They are so crunchy and flavorful right off the vine!  Any extras go into pickles.  Make your own pickles without a store bought seasoning mix

Make sure you save the seeds from your best and longest producers to plant in your garden next spring.  I also save seeds from organic produce I get from the store that is really good.  Some of my favorite tomato plants have come from seed saved from store bought tomatoes.  Look for heirlooms as they will come back like their parent from seed.  What do the terms GMO, natural, heirloom, organic, hybrid really mean?

Tomato, horseradish, marigolds, morning glory and zinnias

This fall, we will have arugula, mustard greens, lettuce, garden sorrel, French and Italian dandelion, spinach, lettuce, purslane, corn salad, celery, chives, arugula, and sprouting broccoli for salads.  Peppers, eggplant and tomatoes will produce until the first freeze.  The Egyptian onions will produce all through winter.