September is another month of harvesting in the garden. The days are becoming shorter and there is a chill in the air. The hedgerows are abundant with berries and nuts and the leaves are starting to show their autumn colours. Small mammals are busy putting food aside for the winter or feeding themselves in preparation for hibernation. Wasps are being kicked of their nests and feasting on berries and fallen fruit.
Vegetable garden
Continue harvesting vegetables such as tomatoes, squash, beans,cabbage, cucumbers ,chard, potatoes, onions, beetroot, sweetcorn, spinach and carrots.
Keep feeding and watering beans and other vegetables to keep them producing.
And keep up regular watering in the green house
Cut bean and pea plants away at ground level when they have finished cropping so the roots will release nitrogen back into the soil as when breaking down.
Freshly dug potatoes should be spread out to dry for a few hours before storing them in a cool, dark place. Use paper bags or hessian sacks for optimal storage.
Remove leaves shading pumpkins to help them ripen
Keep squash, courgettes and pumpkins up off the ground to keep them dry and prevent rotting
You can also plant:
- Purple sprouting broccoli
- Lettuce & other salads
- Garlic
- Kale & spinach
Fruit to Harvest
Fruits in season include apples, pears, grapes blackberries, elderberries and late raspberries.
Start to pick over any apples weekly, twist gently and if the stalk comes away easily its ready! Apples store best in a cool, dark fairly moist place.
Foraging
You will find blackberries, rowanberries, damsons, elderberries and various mushrooms in the wild.
Elderflower syrup is a great preventative you can make to help ward off colds and flus over the next few months.
Collect seeds
You can collect seeds from a variety of trees, shrubs and plants, so that you can grow more next year for free! Fruits, berries, capsules, catkins, cones, nuts such as hazel, pods such as sweet peas, tomatoes etc
Irish seed savers have great videos showing you how!
You can also join seed swapping groups in your area- just search online.
You can also begin to take hardwood cuttings, and cuttings of herbs
Jobs in the flower garden
- Prune Shrub Roses
- Cut back late flowering shrubs such as buddleia, hydrangea, potentilla and spirea.
- Feed and deadhead hanging-basket and container annuals and perennials to extend their performance.
- Spring bulbs are available from the beginning of the month, so plant bulbs such as daffodils, crocus and hyacinths now, for a riot of colour next year.