01/09/2024
NICKI'S GUIDE TO SEPTEMBER IN THE GARDEN
I am just home after a fleeting visit to Ōtautahi, Christchurch, where it was a beautiful blue sky 21 degree day, Spring is most definitely here. Glimpses of green and daffs are everywhere, this time of the year is such a delight after the dormancy of Winter.
The days are getting longer and our soil are warming up, perfect planting time (although I'd still keep the frost cloths and cloches handy just in case). This month is great for peas, lettuce, bok choy, celery, kohlrabi, spring onions, beetroot, radish, coriander, mizuna, rocket, fennel, parsley and spinach and it's the optimal month to get your Summer carrots in. If you are planting brassica's (broccoli, cauli, kale and cabbage) they will need to be netted with a fine mesh to protect them from the cabbage butterfly that will be here before we know it.
Wind is one of the biggest unseen stressors in our gardens. Fences and taller trees are good for around the boundary, but smaller shrubs and perennials planted closer to the garden or in pots, are excellent for filtering and redirecting wind flow and protecting tender seedlings. Young trees may need shade cloth frames if they are still settling in. Ensure you have sturdy infrastructure in place for climbing beans, sweet peas and tomatoes. I find off-cuts of reinforcing mesh strung between a couple of posts strong and versatile.
If your gardens are overgrown lay old carpet or cardboard down to kill off the weeds and spent crops. Once they have died back, it is then easy to cut everything off at ground level, leaving the roots, valuable organic material, in the soil to break down.
Sow dwarf beans, capsicum, chillies, tomatoes, cucumber, pumpkin, watermelon, aubergine and zucchini indoors, or in the greenhouse. Be cautious about planting them outside however, as the success of these summer crops depends totally on soil temperature, especially the heat loving varieties. Tomatoes particularly despise temperature fluctuations and will sulk, which will impact their overall resilience and productivity. Plant seeds twice as deep as the width of the seed and keep them consistently moist, but not sodden. Air temperature should be 13 C (at night too) and soil temperature 18 C. If it's still cold where seedlings are ready to go out, my advice is to move them into larger pots with a more nutritious soil mix and keep them indoors until temperatures outside stabilise. Give new seedlings an Ocean Organics NZ seaweed feed to reduce transplant shock and encourage strong root growth.
How about flowers for the bees and other beneficial insects? Sweet peas, cornflowers, cosmos, poppies, nasturtium, marigold, viola, calendula, snapdragon, sunflowers (only in warmer areas) and zinnia are all great companion plants in the garden. Flowers, herbs and natives, such as manuka, hebes and harakeke, entice pollinators and beneficial insects into the garden. These insects such as ladybugs, praying mantis, hoverflies and the parasitic wasp (a non stinging wasp that lays its egg in caterpillars and other pests, eating their host once they have hatched!) are our best defense against pests.
Plant seed potatoes now for Christmas spuds and sprout your kumara tipu (in a damp sandbox or suspended in a glass of water), to be planted out in November.
Feed fruit trees with fresh layers of compost, seaweed, leaf litter or mulch around the base and/or plant a living mulch, such as comfrey, herbs and flowers to support your trees.
Don't forget to stay on top of your slug and snail populations with night raids, beer traps, ducks or soda bottles with the bases cut off.
I am hosting 2 Edible Gardening on the Home Block Workshops at my home in the Karangahake Gorge - 21st Sept and 19th Oct. These workshops cover soil health, crop rotation, companion planting, composting and worm farming and are designed for both the beginner and the experienced gardener. Message me to register your interest.
Happy growing!
Nicki - Vital Harvest