It’s a busy time in the garden as summer gives way to autumn. Most people think September’s all about harvesting – and there’s certainly plenty of that. But there are other key jobs to get on with if you want your garden to keep on giving, and to avoid problems that could carry over into next season.
Join Ben in his garden as he reveals his 12 essential tasks to complete this month. From helping crops to ripen and preserving the last of the summer’s bounty, to saving your own seeds and taming unruly hedges – there’s lots to keep the gardener busy!
Want to preserve more of your own garden-grown goodness?
Here’s our video on freezing: https://youtu.be/XmZCxXKAcCk?si=0OmRE60AWosDcnx4
And this video covers the basics of canning: https://youtu.be/ABzE2jI3YpM?si=Oi5MX6-Er6L1zbeV
Catch up on the best crops to sow in September here: https://youtu.be/Et_f2uN–1Q?si=S8pcaGK4_P3lA7AF
If you love growing your own food, why not take a look at our online Garden Planner which is available from several major websites and seed suppliers:
https://www.GrowVeg.com
https://gardenplanner.almanac.com
https://gardenplanner.motherearthnews.com
and many more…
To receive more gardening videos subscribe to our channel here: https://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=GrowVeg
If you’ve noticed any pests or beneficial insects in your garden lately please report them to us at https://BigBugHunt.com
41 Comments
Great ideas and reminders! I love that recipe and will for sure using it
Always enjoy your videos, keep up the good work xx
That is so cool, I’m going to learn how to pickle cucumbers 🥒 thank you.
Yet another fab video thank u 👍 should we cut back or trim or do anything to the strawberry plants b4 we put them in greenhouse pls? Thank u ☺️
Thanks Ben…..always lots of good advice
I forgot a rutabaga last year and let it flower and had a ton of seed from one plant.🎉. I dropped some along the way and they are growing like crazy. I don’t believe they were hybrid. I would like to save more seed varieties. I don’t always write down the varieties and then I wonder if it was a hybrid. There aren’t many carrots that are heirloom like varieties I like to plant like imperators, unless I’m not looking hard enough. I think F1 seeds are ok?
Have you been successful at replanting hybrid seeds? Is it not worth the bother because it would not come true?
Thank you!
Is there danger of cross pollination from beans like there is on squash?
Great tips as always, thank you 😊
Ben, you have spectacularly beautiful marigolds in your garden. What variety are they? Hello from Oregon, USA! Thanks!
Thanks! Just don't forget that you can't collect seeds from F1 varieties
Love the way cabbage is shielded against pigeons.
If I planted F1 seeds this year and want to save some seeds will they be F1 seeds for next year?
What is a good cover crop for west coast, British Columbia?
Thanks for the strawberry tips ! I have one bed that is crammed full of new plants, and I was wondering how to fix them. Is it ok to go ahead and set them out in a new plot now ? Or do I have to over winter them ? Mine have already rooted and I can just dig them out of the soil.
Just finished canning pasta sauce yesterday. Pickles soaking in lime now, makes them crisper. Later ill can them as sweet, but I may stick some peppers in some for me. I like the heat as well.
Have a blessed busy week there.
Enjoying your videos as always, gives me reminders of what I should be doing! Quick question about the metal trellis next to the small bed at 3:30: (a) is this a piece of chain link fence, and (b) how do you get it to stay upright?
I will give the pickle ingredients ago
Hello dear friend you got nice garden full support ❤
Fantastic video! I love this checklist style video. You added a jarring tutorial and that was just the cherry on top.
Which zone are you in? After all the episodes I've watched, I never stopped to think about it.
I love your timing. I've got my plan for the next few days. Stay your incredible self
Yummy, don't forget to pickle some of those beans! Great advice as always.
I made some dill pickles recently. I like your chilli pepper idea, I may have to try that as well. I like the heat as well.
I love refrigerator pickles! I mix in to your recipe, some chopped onion and a few mustard seeds. Sometimes I use half white and half apple cider vinegar. There are so many options, even cumin, turmeric or curry powder could be used. I have had a good cucumber harvest this Summer in Zone 9b/10a by using 50% shade cloth and as it is cooling down, no shade cloth is needed. The plants are still putting on fruit. I want to try a recipe for Cucumber Limeade. Here's the recipe: 3 large cucumbers, peeled and cut into chunks, 1/3 cup lime juice, one teaspoon stevia liquid or 1/2 cup regular sugar. Put cucumber chunks into a blender/food processor and add enough water to cover chunks and mix until as much of the seeds and pulp are ground up. Sieve cucumber mixture to remove extra pulp and seeds and put liquid into a one gallon pitcher/jar. Discard solids. Add water to pitcher/jar to fill close to the top. Add juice and sweetener. Stir and refrigerate.
Hey, Ben, I've been using your videos all year to start my very first successful garden and I've been able to get my very first tomatoes, sweet potatoes, strawberries, squash, and so much more after last year's severe failure. Forever thankful for your videos and I can't wait for more to be posted so I can further expand my garden!
nice season for cucumbers
I grow garlic in-between my tomato plants. It seems to keep certain bugs away t from tomatoes
Do I need to go through the bed and clear out/pull up roots that may have broken off when I pulled out old vegetables?
I love your videos. Nonrelated question. I had planed od putting woodchip between my raised beds. But that is a costly affair. So now I am planning on laying leafs and use it next year on my beds and lay a new layer of leafs on the path. Good or bad idea??
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Please please please learn how to use a kitchen knife properly. That technique will lead to chopped fingers. So easy to be safe
Self saved seeds are also more adapted to your climate. I live in Sweden where we can some years have very cold winters. I save as many seeds as I can. Carrots, dill, potatoes (for seed come spring) lettuce, spinach, onions, I save some of my hard neck garlic for next fall season planting, squash, cucumbers, tomatoes etc. etc. etc… Lots more but, these are the ones that come first to mind.
My potatoes especially have really benefited from saving my own potatoes for seed potatoes the following yr. Since I do the no dig method or Ruth Stout method, it took my potatoes 2 yrs. to get used to that method as well as the climate. This season I did a comparison with store bought seed potatoes and my own seed potatoes. From the "new" potatoes I harvested barely 10 kg. from a bed the size of 2 meters x 4 meters. From my own seed potatoes growing in a bed that is 2 meters x 10 meters. (yes, bigger than the store bought seed potatoes) I received nearly 60 kg. of fairly good sized potatoes. Less damaged to them as well so… I feel that proved my theory of self saving seed being more productive.
Your kitchen is as pretty as your garden!
I depend on your videos Ben, but I have a bit of advice for you this time! I live in the Pacific NW so I use filbert (AKA hazelnut) shells as mulch. Slugs used to shred my Hosta plants and my strawberries but not anymore. Hazelnut shells are available on the internet now. Slugs cannot slither across the sharp edges of the shells.
I don't use very many, but rather, I just sprinkle them around the plant and refresh them every spring. I have not seen a single slimy trail anywhere! Thank you for all your wonderful teaching!
A while ago I cut away some parsnip stalks. Later I developped a nasty, big blister on my wrist. I didn,t cook that day. So it wasn,t caused by hot steam. This happened twice. Can this really be caused by juices in the stalks?
By the way you are our hero who talks to us late at night
Great advice 🙂 thx for all the reminders! Grew my 1st summer crops as my 1st year as a gardener, and were saving lots of our faves (and even things we didn’t love) for the next season. We’re buying new varieties that we’d like to try for fall & winter. You never know when you’ll meet a new gardener, we love sharing the abundance!
Great video as always 🙂
Great video as always Ben, thank you. Especially the pinning down of strawberry runners with staples, always drove me mad that they would spring out of the pot and I never thought of that.
The hesitation I have with saving seed is cross-pollination. I have different varieties of tomatoes; chillies/peppers, lettuces, broccoli etc. Unfortunately the bees will fly between all of the flowers without discriminating and, from what I've understood, that messes up the varieties and makes what you may get next year totally unpredictable.
Ben, I made your pickles out of my sweet lime pickles !! Oh my thank you ! I have canned several jars of them for later with my last cucumbers coming in.
I’ve been following your videos all year and I can’t tell you what a difference it has made! I’ve never been successful at growing tomatoes before, but this year I have bucketfuls and I’m filling the freezer. My other veggies have done so well that I haven’t bought any vegetables for our family of five for months! I’m so chuffed and so grateful. You make gardening such fun and your videos are memorable and great to watch. Many, many thanks 😊
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Zone 8 where? I'm in London 5A.