Master My Garden Podcast
Master My Garden Podcast
EP291- What To Sow In September & Other Gardening Jobs. Maximising Your September Garden: What to Sow Now Before Winter
Wondering what to plant as summer wanes? Don't put away those seed packets just yet! September offers the perfect conditions for establishing winter-hardy crops that will provide fresh harvests throughout the coldest months.
This episode explores the often-overlooked opportunities of September sowing, focusing on crops that thrive when planted now. While the list may be shorter than spring and summer guides, these strategic plantings deliver exceptional value. Discover which lettuce varieties withstand winter conditions, why you can sow more generously now than in summer months, and how oriental greens establish beautifully in cooling temperatures. We cover specific varieties like Arctic King, Winter Density, and Marvel of Four Seasons lettuce that are particularly suited to this transitional time.
Beyond salads, we explore herbs that establish quickly before winter's darkness slows growth, winter-hardy spring onions that provide continuous harvests, and how chard becomes a garden superstar during the colder months. For polytunnel and greenhouse growers, we reveal additional possibilities including early brassicas for spring harvests and autumn onion sets that will deliver your earliest allium crop next year.
The episode also addresses crucial seasonal maintenance as autumn rains return after summer drought. Learn why trees may be dropping leaves earlier than expected, how to prevent fruit rot in increasing humidity, and the importance of greenhouse cleanliness as insects seek winter shelter. We also emphasize the value of maintaining soil biology even in unused growing spaces to ensure a healthy start next spring.
As this marks our final sowing guide of the season, we're transitioning to a community perennial grow-along project in upcoming episodes. Join us as we demonstrate how easily you can grow beautiful perennial flowers from seed for next year's garden. Subscribe now, share your gardening journey with us on social media, and discover how September planting extends your growing season well into winter!
If there is any topic you would like covered in future episodes, please let me know.
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Until next week
Happy gardening
John
How's it going, everybody, and welcome to episode 291 of Master my Garden podcast. Now this week we're looking at what to sow in the month of September. So this episode is going out the last day or two of August and, as we look ahead to the month ahead of September, we're looking at what we can sow in the vegetable garden. Now, this episode, or this sowing guide, is likely to be the last one in terms of you know, we're unlikely to do one in October or November because the seed sowing has been reducing, know, significantly, and this month it really really tapers off and the opportunities, the list that we can sow, is very, very small from here on and september, I guess, is a month that often gets overlooked. You know I've said that before. It's it's a month where it's getting to the point where a lot of people kind of write off the year and just park it for for now. But there's huge opportunities again, just, you know, along the same lines as what we were saying in august, there's huge opportunities now to to sew and to keep utilizing your space. So we'll get into the kind of list of what we can sow in a minute. Now it is quite short, you know it's going to be probably a relatively short episode as such, because the list itself is short. There is valuable one, valuable seeds that we can be sown, and valuable harvest that we could have later on down the line, but the list is generally small. Hence, as I say, this will be the last one of these sowing guides for this year, and we will, of course. I mentioned last week that we might do a grow along on perennials and that's looking likely. A couple of people have messaged saying that yeah, they'd like that or that would be interesting. So I think we'll do that, because we've mentioned before perennials. You know it's the. The month of september and october are superb months to sow perennial seed and that will give you, you know, basically mean that you'll have fully fledged perennial plants to go into your borders next, you know, kind of next spring. So huge opportunity to do that and, yeah, like likely to do a grow along. In terms of the week that has just gone, huge harvest, absolutely huge harvest still in the gardens.
Speaker 1:I think everybody's kind of having, generally speaking, bumper crops of most things. Fruit, particularly this year, is really having a phenomenal year, I guess. You know we've had quite a bit of warm weather and reasonable amounts of sunshine all summer, and so we're seeing the true value of fruit. We didn't have any late frosts too much either earlier in the year, which can be a big factor in determining how the crops fare out towards the end of the year, and they were. You know, late frosts were quite kind generally speaking around the country and because of that then we do have, you know, we are seeing very, very good crops of, you know, of apples, of, of pears, of plums, all the different berries, raspberries and you know, all all the different fruits essentially are delivering really, really good and that's great to see Out from that. You know, main crop potatoes I'm getting some messages from listeners this week about main crop potatoes sort of finishing and the foliage naturally dying off, and that's probably a combination of things happening there.
Speaker 1:You know we've had this period of dry weather and potatoes, particularly if they weren't getting a good bit of water and and I know people, some people do water but to to water potatoes in the ground is going to take a lot of water. So generally speaking, they might be getting a little bit to keep them, to keep them going, but they're going to need a lot of water in terms of bulking out the potatoes and so the plant itself sort of can reach its its natural end of cycle fairly quick. You know, if the weather has been as dry for as long as as it has, you're also seeing a lot of trees dropping leaves at the moment, and again, that's you know. People are saying the autumn's coming quickly and to a certain extent it is, but a lot of the leaf drop that we're seeing at the moment on things like trees is down to the lack of moisture over a period of months. And because there's been a lack of moisture over a period of months, the you know the tree is sacrificing up on top and it's dropping some of these leaves and that's as a result of that long, long dry period. Trees, when they get that type of challenge of dry weather over a period of several years, you can actually the tree itself can become under pressure over a couple of years. But a lot of people mentioning that you know leaf drop is happening and that is generally as a result of the dry weather.
Speaker 1:Now, certainly around here I don't know what it's like where you're listening, but certainly where I am. Coincidentally, I live, you know, about 10 miles away from Electric Picnic picnic, which is a big festival which kicks off this weekend and you know everyone's eagerly watching the weather to know is it going to be? Is it going to be nice for the, for the concerts, for the, for the festival, for the camping, particularly anyone in tents, you know they, they're watching that. But certainly in the last week we've had nice falls of rain and there is quite a lot of rain expected over the next couple of days and over the weekend and into next week. So you know, for anyone with an eye on the electric picnic that is, it's going to be a concern, especially if you're in one of these little tents. But anyway, here's hoping rain in the garden has been very, very welcome, for for most people there's, you know that everything has been dry and as a result of things being dry, you know, certainly flowers and fruit have benefited hugely from that because they've I don't think they've ever looked as well. But now that they're, now that the rain is coming back or some level of rain is coming back, we're going to see rain, kind of some level of rain, every day for the next week, according to the weather, and that then sort of changes.
Speaker 1:You know the the things that we should and need to do in the garden, and you know things like fruit I was mentioning the likes of raspberries and so on. As the rain comes, they can get moldy quite quickly, so you want to be getting them. You know, as soon as they're just ready, get them off the plants and don't allow them to sit in moisture at all. Same goes for flowers and dead headings and a lot of perennials are absolutely at their peak now and things like dahlias. You know when you get a flower that's going over, especially when you get rain, that rain can hold onto the flower that's gone over. It sort of falls over onto the next flower and causes that one to rot quicker. So be deadheading as well on anything that you're looking to. You know any beds or borders or hanging baskets or planters that you're looking to keep. You know any beds or borders or hanging baskets or planters that you're looking to keep looking well, for the next number of months. Make sure you're deadheading, especially during the wet periods, because the need to deadhead increases when you have moisture and the plants are sitting wet.
Speaker 1:So very, very welcome on many fronts, and it just means that you kind of have to tweak a few things that you're doing. So to get into the seed sowing list, as I said, it's going to be quite short. We're predominantly looking at, you know, salad leaves and salad crops at this time of the year, and they can be, they're hugely welcome when that harvest comes, you know, deep into the winter months to have fresh, fresh salads to be able to harvest is is is really, really welcome. But it's also things like herbs that you know can be added to all those hearty winter dishes that we typically cook. And then even, you know, within a polytunnel or a greenhouse, you still have the ability to grow and to sow seeds that you wouldn't otherwise be able to do so. So let's get into the list. So on the salad front first, it's a lot of, as I said, those winter hardy salad crops. You're looking at things like glatonia lettuce. Again, you're looking at predominantly loose leaf lettuce. At this time of the year. You're going to stay away from the really tight heads, the iceberg type. You're going to stay away from those and you're looking for loose lettuce. I suppose there's a few varieties that are kind of well suited to that. You're looking at things like Arctic King. You're looking at Winter Density. There's Marvel of Four Seasons. They're all winter, suitable, winter hardy varieties of lettuce and can be sold perfectly now and again, as I mentioned last month.
Speaker 1:Don't be afraid to sow a little bit more because than than you usually would, because the the chances of any of these running to seed it doesn't happen anywhere near as quickly as it would say, you know, all through the summer months. So in the summer months we're doing little, and often because we're you know, there's always the possibility of whatever we're sewing running to seed quickly because of high temperatures and whatnot. So at this stage of the year you can actually sow a bit more. The the growth is slower, the temperatures don't reach reaches high, with less sunlight, and that's decreasing all the time. So it gives us the ability to or for crops to hold way way longer. So you can sow a lot more than you would typically so at this time of the year.
Speaker 1:So lettuce then you're looking at the kind of the oriental style salad leaves, I guess things like tatsoi, rocket, mustard, corn, corn salad, any of those, you kind of oriental type vegetables you can sow. They're all hardy, the likes of rocket. I don't sow I've mentioned before I have perennial rocket, so I just keep harvesting that all the time, a couple of times a year it kind of pushes out a yellow flower. You just keep cutting them off and then you get a flush new growth. So perennial rocket is you know, it's a brilliant one, um, but for anyone's own annual rocket, ordinary rocket, it's perfect at this time of the year. So lots of it. And mustard tatsai, all of those the same. So oriental style salad leaves they tend to be a little bit spicier but they're a really, really nice addition to to any of your salads or cooking at this time of the year.
Speaker 1:Uh, spring onions again, you're switching to your sort of winter hardy ones. So winter varieties, the Japanese bunching varieties there's several of them out there and you know even white Lisbon, which is the main one. You'll get a winter version of white Lisbon and that's a brilliant one to sow at this time of the year. And again, you can sow lots of them. Them. They're not going to run to seed, they'll hold pretty much, you know, outside, or outside under cover, or even in a in a greenhouse. They're going to hold if you don't harvest them, they're going to stay, stay grown away. They won't look to run to seed and you'll harvest them right through until next spring. So do sow lots of them at this stage of the year and fill up the space and use them over the coming months.
Speaker 1:Uh, chard is another one, again, a few plants that are going to do you. So if you have six plants, that's probably going to do you all year again, you could be. It can be used for salads, but generally better, you know, you can use the stalks, um, in things like stews and they can be sauteed on a pan. And chard is probably one of the, probably one of the most underrated vegetables in the garden. I think, and it's certainly one that you know that I like, especially over that winter period. Some of the herbs are still good to be sown because the temperatures are still quite warm. You know, a lot of seeds are still going to germinate.
Speaker 1:It's just whether you can actually get them to, you know, get them to, I suppose, maturity or get them to do anything at this stage of the year. You don't want them sitting little miserable things all over the winter. So it's whether you can get any sort of growth into them. Basically, through the likes of the likes of the, the herbs you're looking at coriander, chervil, dill, even parsnip can be sowed at this time of the year and you know they'll give you some herbs for cooking, but also herbs that you can add to salads as well. So that's definitely worth doing. You can also, if you can, if you can find them, you can sow for growing on in the polytunnel or greenhouse. You can sow again some of your, your brassica types, so cauliflower, calabrese, you know kale even. You can grow them on in the in the polytunnel at this time of the year and you'll have a harvest then next spring off those. So they're worth doing as well.
Speaker 1:Small sowings, beetroot typically you can't, but inside polytunnel or greenhouse again, and potentially even some carrots you might get. As I say, with the temperatures being warm at the moment, you should get quick germination. You should be able to get a little bit of growth into them before sort of the light levels really drop through the end of October. And if you can get that growth into them now, then you will be able to get a harvest on them. And when you get that harvest can depend on a couple of things temperature and so on. But you will definitely. If you get germination and good growth into the mobile the next sort of six weeks, you will definitely, you will definitely be able to, you know, get a good harvest at some point in time.
Speaker 1:And the other, the other thing that you can do this month is you can sow or plant your autumn onion sets. So garlic will come later on in november, but at the moment, towards the end of the month, you can plant your onions and, said again, these are going to be, you know, the winter, winter hardy varieties, so it's a brilliant, brilliant one to plant at this stage of the year. They're planted into the ground outside and they will give you or in the polytunnel so I've done it in the polytunnel as well and they will give you the very, very first crop of next year, which typically is going to be in May time. So you'll get a full harvest of onions in May and then you'll get your subsequent harvest through June and July from your other onion sets or your sowings from next spring. So really, really worthwhile doing that. And then, on top of that, then know that's kind of in terms of planting, in terms of sowing seed. That's kind of basically the list. As I say, it's quite short and we will. We will, of course, move on to the, the perennial ones, next week maybe or the week after and and hopefully look at a grow along that everybody can get involved in and other jobs that we can do at the moment.
Speaker 1:So obviously, harvesting is still really really you know there's a lot to be harvested, a lot of crops coming in and there's pretty much everything is is ready. A lot of the beds are still full. You'll be starting to come under pressure with tomato and blight, especially if the rain comes and if the light levels go down and you know we're getting less sunlight. You have to watch out for blight. Keep those tomatoes, keep those leaves off of any signs of blight. Get them out of the out of the greenhouse and keep on top of all those things. Keep watering and feeding. Potentially you can get, you know you're going to be able to harvest right up until november on your tomatoes all going well. But keep them fed, keep them watered and and watch out for for blight developing other pests at this time of year.
Speaker 1:Keep your tunnel as clean as possible. So if you have anything that's starting to go over, it's time to be cleaning out your tunnel. Keep it as clean as possible. Get your husbandry right because at this stage of the year you will get insects that will be starting to look to move inward and you potentially will start to build up problems in your greenhouse at this stage of the year. So keep that clean as much as possible. If something's gone, get rid of it and get it onto your compost heap and then that keeps the, keeps the tunnel fresh. Don't be afraid to keep and continue to sow and then you'll have new stuff coming along. But don't allow anything to lie around. Sit around in your polytunnel.
Speaker 1:The other thing that can happen with polytunnels at this time of year greenhouses this time of year is that people make their harvest, they take out some of their crops and they forget about it. You know they don't water in there and they don't. You know. Basically they do nothing in there or in the ground for a period of time. You're better off to keep something in the ground and if you're not, cover it down, mulch it down. Make sure you water it occasionally, because if that soil completely dries out over the next few months, then it's any soil life that's there is going to get killed off and you're kind of starting from scratch in poor ground again next spring. So don't allow that to happen.
Speaker 1:Get it mulched down, get it, you know, get it watered, ensure that you continue to feed that soil life and then next spring, if you're, if you are deciding that you're not, you know, going to utilize it all over the winter or you're not going to utilize all your space over the winter, then at least when you go back into it next, next spring, it's ready to go. It's still healthy, the soil is healthy, the still the soil life is still, is still going, um, so yeah, they're kind of the important jobs, as I say, it's have to been, it's have to been a really, really good year for growing, generally speaking. And yeah, that's the seed sowing guide for September. Definitely no need to do one in October. I'll probably mention in some of the episodes, you know, a few things that you can be doing, but there isn't enough seeds to be sowing to have a, you know, a standalone episode on the seed sowing guide for October. So that's the last one of these for the year. Episode on the seed sowing guide for october so that's the last one of these for the year, albeit that we are going to do the perennial grow along. Still need to figure out how we're going to execute that, I suppose, but I'll let you know on that in the coming days.
Speaker 1:Loads of people. I mentioned on the podcast a few weeks back that I'd love the listeners to get in touch through instagram, through email, whatever the case may be, and loads of people have got in touch. It's been really nice to hear from people and people that I didn't know, you know, as I say, were that listen to the podcast, that get benefit from the podcast and, as I say, really really nice to hear from, from you guys, to hear your gardening stories, to hear how the podcast is helping you in your garden and, uh, yeah, if anyone hasn't hasn't uh, you know, got in, got in contact, please do. As I say, lovely to hear from you. Also, a couple of people have are supported and continue to support on buy me a coffee. That's, you know, really, really I'm really grateful for that. It's, uh, basically, it's just the thing that you can. You can buy a coffee to show your support of the podcast and, yeah, it keeps the keeps the show on the road, as I said. So, lots of listeners have have bought coffees over the over the last couple of months and that is greatly appreciated.
Speaker 1:So that's been this week's episode.
Speaker 1:I'll be back next week or the week after with the, with the grow along, and we'll keep you up to date on that. I think that could be a good one. I think that'll be back next week or the week after with the grow along and we'll keep you up to date on that. I think that could be a good one. I think that'll be something that people can you know can sort of bring a bit of a community together. We can see people's journey from the sowing of the seed to right through to the flowers hopefully next summer and show you how easy it is to do that, to create perennial plants just by sowing a few seeds.
Speaker 1:As I say, the mechanics of it I'll confirm over the next week, but we'll probably drop a list of maybe sort of 10 or 15 really really popular perennials that most people will enjoy or like in their garden and then everybody can choose. You know three or four from that and we'll work from there. I'll show you how to do the sowing, how to nurture them. We'll do a couple of, you know, we'll do a couple of maybe lives over that period of time to show people how to tend to them, how to look after them and then how we can get them out into the gardens next year and then hopefully we'll see fully fledged in flower perennial borders, all from a few packets of seed, and I think that would be a nice journey for you guys, the listeners, to take. So that's been this week's episode. Thanks for listening and I'll tell you next time. Happy gardening.