September - The Joy of Vegetable Harvest

September - The Joy of Vegetable Harvest

Exactly as the title says... do you also catch yourself smiling over freshly pulled carrots and lovingly storing them in the cellar? That's right. Harvesting vegetables is a joy. We ourselves feel better too. The work in the garden seems to have lessened. The days you spent kneeling or bent over the beds are behind us. Now only more joyful tasks await us. In your euphoria over the harvest, don't forget about the vegetables that still need our care.

So what still needs care and how:

• late brassicas - fertilize with superphosphate
• celery and leeks - earth up with soil
• asparagus - cut stems and add to compost

Consider sowing autumn varieties. Sowing is suitable for cold frames or covered beds. Especially in areas with harsh frosts, sowing root vegetables is not recommended. Carrot seeds are very often damaged by mice. If carrots overwinter poorly, they very often bolt in spring.

• spinach - still consider sowing it, autumn sowing can be harvested early in spring. Fresh leaves will be an early source of vitamins. The most suitable variety for autumn sowing is Matador.
• root vegetables - sow carrots, parsley, onions, black salsify
• lamb's lettuce - sow in cold frames

Sow in beds:

• garlic - plant only if you have well-developed, large cloves. Always plant them with the tip pointing up! The tip of the clove should be about 3 cm below the soil surface.

In September, also plant horseradish, rhubarb and winter lettuce.

Your own seeds - if you're used to growing your own cucumber seeds, let them ripen for seed until September. Cut yellowed cucumber fruits lengthwise and scoop out the seeds along with the pulp. Let them ferment. This separates the seeds from the pulp. Then wash and dry the seeds. However, it's best to purchase professionally prepared seeds.

Towards the end of September, you can start harvesting brassicas and root vegetables. In September we harvest vegetables for consumption. If you're storing vegetables, it's better to wait another month. At the end of September we harvest:

• celeriac - we leave only the heart leaves, remove the rest (don't cut with a knife). Shorten the roots to just 1-2 cm. Store the cleaned bulbs in damp sand in the cellar.

Warning! Don't leave harvested vegetable tops in the beds! Cabbage root fly could spread.

Heat-loving vegetables in the beds - cover them with foil covers (tunnels). Cover tomatoes, peppers and eggplants. By using this foil, we protect the plants from frost and allow the fruits to ripen. If you don't cover the plants, you can harvest them unripe. Spread unripe tomatoes in crates (boxes) to ripen. If you have space in the cellar, you can pull out the entire plant with roots and hang it roots up. The cellar must be airy and well-lit. The fruits will still ripen this way.

Most harvested vegetables are suitable for preservation by pickling. It's advisable to pickle and preserve the freshest vegetables possible. Old and wilted ones are no longer worth preserving. If you've never pickled vegetables before, search through cookbooks or the internet for inspiration. You can pickle carrots, cauliflower and onions in vinegar brine, for example. You can also pickle diced root vegetables.

In September we harvest fruit vegetables (tomatoes, peppers, eggplants), late brassicas and root vegetables, celeriac and onions.

Have you planted garlic yet? If not, the end of September is the last suitable time.

Have you tidied up the beds, cold frames and cellars yet? If not, don't wait and get to it.

Strawberry beds - still water as needed. Weed the bed. Clean strawberry plants of runners. Fertilize - with superphosphate and potassium sulfate. Don't throw fertilizer into the crowns of the plants.

Fruit Crops

Harvesting fruit crops in autumn takes up more and more time. We harvest fruit intended for storage. You'll recognize the best time to harvest fruit when the stem separates easily from the branch. Use a fruit picker to help. Only harvest fruit in dry weather. The main time for harvesting fruit for storage may still be in October.

In September we harvest:

• late peach varieties (Elberta)
• mid-late and late plums (greengages, mirabelles)
• common plum
• autumn pear varieties (Beurré Hardy, Conference, Salisbury, Clapp's Favorite)
• autumn and winter apple varieties (Cox's Orange Pippin, Maiden's Blush, reinettes)

Early September also sees the ripening of hazelnut varieties.

We still collect fallen fruit. It contains more sugars - we use it for making compotes or drying.

What are your experiences with vegetable harvesting? What do you like to preserve?

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Author: Hana Michalíková