Garden in September: sowing winter vegetables, planting onions and garlic, preserving the harvest and maintenance work

Sowing green manure

Any empty beds can now be sown with green manure. Suitable crops for sowing late in the year include:

• Yellow mustard (good after potatoes)
• Winter rye (ideal as a preceding crop for potatoes, beans and cabbage - incompatible with maize)
• Winter vetch, sweet clover (repels mice, cabbage flies and cabbage white butterflies)
• Winter rape (serves as bee pasture) When selecting a suitable green manure, it is essential to ensure that the plant family is varied. For example, mustard and rape should never grow after another cruciferous plant such as cabbage.

Plants in September

Now that fall is approaching, it's time to plant garlic outdoors. You can simply use individual cloves from a purchased bulb. Garlic does not need its own bed, it can be used as an excellent mixed crop, e.g. in combination with strawberries. Its aromatic scent prevents fungal diseases and also keeps mice and snails away. In early autumn, it is also time to plant new rhubarb. Pieces of root are used for this, which can then sprout vigorously the following spring. Propagation by seed is not recommended, as it is often not true to variety.

Harvesting vegetables in September

In the transitional period between summer and fall, there is still plenty to harvest in the garden. Tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, zucchinis and pumpkins give their all again in the late summer sun. As soon as the first cold nights threaten towards the end of the month, the southern plants should be covered with foil. In many regions, these heat-loving plants will soon complete their development cycle, with onions and garlic from spring plantings still ripening at the beginning of September. A warm, sunny day should be chosen for harvesting so that they can be stored in a dry place. The last harvests of summer lettuce, radishes, radishes, bush beans and kohlrabi are also slowly approaching. Swiss chard can still be diligently harvested. The summer crops are being replaced by the first autumn vegetables: fennel, endive, Chinese cabbage and large cabbage varieties are now beginning to ripen. Now is also the main harvest time for potatoes. Medium-early and late varieties are now gradually being dug up and stored. Here, too, you should choose a day that is as dry and warm as possible for harvesting. The tubers can then be stored in a cool cellar. You should not wash the potatoes before storing them, as the soil keeps them fresh for longer and protects them from drying out. Root vegetables such as late carrots, celery and beet remain in the bed for as long as possible. They can still be harvested fresh from there. As soon as severe frosts threaten, however, the root vegetables should be moved to protected winter quarters. Depending on the variety, leeks can be harvested from fall until the following spring. When overwintering, make sure to use hardy varieties. Black salsify are very hardy and not sensitive to the cold; they remain in place. The black-brown stalks are harvested while the soil is still open. Hardy vegetables also include Brussels sprouts and kale, which also remain on the bed. In September, they use the last warmth to grow vigorously again. In September, the shoot tips of the early-maturing Brussels sprouts should be broken out so that the last of their strength can be concentrated on the roses. Varieties for overwintering should not be topped, as this makes them more susceptible to cold damage!

Drying tea herbs

On warm days, there is still plenty to harvest from the herb garden. Mint and lemon balm are tied together to make fragrant dried bunches. Tea fennel and dill seeds can also be harvested. The brown seeds of the umbels do not ripen at the same time, so you should keep checking and cut them in good time. Alternatively, you can leave the seeds on the plant so that it sows itself and grows even more abundantly in the next season. If you have valerian in your garden, you can now dig up the roots and dry them in a warm place.

Winning together

The seed harvest of many valuable flowering plants is also about to begin: Marigolds, sunflowers, nasturtiums and vetches (green manure) are now producing plenty of seeds for the next generation. Marigolds and nasturtiums in particular self-seed very easily. If you want to use them specifically in the vegetable patch next year, you should keep an eye on the fading plants and collect ripe seeds in good time. Faded sunflowers can be left to feed birds over the winter.

Maintenance work in the fall

Endives are now tied together in dry weather so that the heart leaves fade and remain nice and tender. Broccoli should not be pulled out in September, it will sprout again and again and continue to form tender, green florets. Even the first frosts won't bother it. If not already done, cut off old raspberry canes in September. Leave 8-12 young shoots per plant. The more vigorously growing blackberry bushes are left with only 4-6 young shoots per bush. The beginning of September is the ideal time to create a new strawberry bed. The new bed should be provided with compost, fertilizer and a mulch layer, just like the old strawberry beds. A sunny, sheltered spot with humus-rich, moist soil is best. The original forest dwellers also enjoy slightly acidic soil, which can be achieved by mulching with leaf or needle litter. Where garden conditions are rather unfavorable, a raised bed can provide a home for the sweet fruits. If you want to plant new berry bushes or fruit trees in autumn, you should prepare the corresponding planting pits now. To do this, dig the planting holes in September and fill them with a loose mixture of compost and organic slow-release fertilizer. The roots of the young trees and shrubs can later take root well in this nutritious soil. When "tidying up" the garden, it is worth taking account of the many beneficial insects in the garden. Flowering plants should be preserved as long as possible as food for insects, the seed heads of asters and tall grasses serve as winter food for birds in particular and should also not be removed. Shrub cuttings, stones and dead wood can also be collected in an undisturbed spot in the garden; they provide valuable shelter for many animals during the cold season.

Utilizing and preserving the harvest

Many fruit trees still produce plenty of fruit in late summer: Apples, pears, plums, damsons and quinces are now collected and processed. There are no limits to your imagination here: whether as a cake, boiled down to jam or jelly or dried - you can combine and experiment as you wish. Many fruits can also be frozen. The fruit should be harvested at the right time so that it has reached the optimum degree of ripeness. If the fruit can be loosened with a slight twisting motion, it is ripe and can be eaten directly, stored (especially apples and pears) or preserved in some other way. Only healthy, perfectly ripe fruit should be used for storage. Fallen fruit can be eaten fresh or processed into jelly, jam and marmalade. If you have grown large quantities of white cabbage, you can now preserve this healthy vegetable as sauerkraut. You can find detailed instructions on fermentation and other common preservation methods in our article on preserving fruit and vegetables. For those who like to experiment: Elderberries, rowanberries and rosehips can also be used in a variety of ways and provide valuable vitamins and minerals, especially in the cold season. Elderberries in particular are very rich in vitamin C and are therefore ideal for strengthening the immune system. But be careful: the berries must be cooked sufficiently before eating, as they are poisonous when raw! Read more about this in our article on edible wild shrubs.