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That’s
right! It’s already time to get your planting beds ready for fall. The
summer has been a hot one and the weather forecasters say that summer won’t
be ready to give way to fall. Though next month is typically our driest
month, it is time to start your fall plants.
In
September, we should remove any weeds from our garden beds and mulch using
a layer of newspaper or grass clippings (weed blocker) followed by a layer
of pine bark or pine straw (so your weed blocker won’t disturb your
neighbors).
After
preparing your beds you will be ready to plant your flowers or vegetable
plants and top dress them with a little 10-10-10.
Usually
I will have some late tomato plants that are about 3-weeks old to plant.
This will give me tomatoes up until the December holidays if I protect
them from frosts. Also, I have about ten bell pepper plants that are
blooming and ready to place in their containers. They won’t make large
peppers this time of year, but they will save me a few bucks at the market
until November
Some
other veggies I like to start now are radishes and carrots. The carrots
won’t be ready until next summer, but I will be able to harvest the
radishes in a few weeks.
Lettuces
are good to start now, along with borrage, salad burnet, late dill,
parsley, basil and cilantro. These are most of my favorite salad herbs and
greens. Of course, we shouldn’t forget our Stevia. Folks in the northern
part of the state should be prepared to bring your Stevia plants in for
the winter.
By
the end of this month you will see a lot of spring bulbs in the Co-ops and
garden shops. It’s time to buy them, but wait a few weeks to plant them.
Go ahead and buy all of your favorite spring bulbs and place them in the
refrigerator until late October. This extra chill time will allow the
bulbs to be showier than ever next spring. Also, if you are planning on
force blooming some bulbs for the holidays or for an early New Years table
centerpiece, make sure you buy extra bulbs to chill.
I
hope everyone has a great Autumnal Equinox and I’ll see you all next
month! Remember the official time for celebration of the Equinox is 4:51
a.m. CDT on September 23rd.
If
your local radio station isn’t carrying the gardening radio show Home
Grown Tomatoes yet, call them and request it!
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