Other Entries: September 2007 January 2008 March 2008 April 2008 May 2008 June 2008 July 2008 August 2008 September 2008 October 2008

In August, I harvest many of my crops, and replace some of them with things I'll harvest during the winter - This month, I've been picking beans, cucumbers and tomatoes almost every day. In July I began digging-up some of my potatoes, and I'll be continuing the harvest through September. I use the spaces occupied by potatoes for winter brassicas and fall lettuces. I plant these immediately after lifting the spuds. Due to the fact that I generally grow potatoes in very lightly-amended soil, I add a good inch or two of compost and a good dose of lime and organic fertilizer to the land before putting in brassica transplants. Other crops that I harvest in August include Garlic, Cabbage, Kale, Parsley, and various berries from roadsides and clearings.

The Plum harvest that began in late July has continued, and I've begun picking purple prune plums. The gooseberries are finally ripe, and the strawberries that I started harvesting in June have been continuing to trickle in. Most of the strawberries in my gardens are everbearing varieties, and they keep flowering and fruiting for months, unlike June-bearing varieties which...well...bear in June. I never plant enough strawberries, and even with about 50 plants in the ground this year, I'm still planning to put a whole bunch more in next year. You need a lot of strawberry plants to make a strawberry pie! August is the perfect time to root strawberry runners, and to pot-on those that have rooted themselves. Some folks place small pots filled with potting mix near large strawberry plants and pin the runners down into the soil, then wait until they have rooted. I usually just pinch off well-developed runners and push them into damp potting soil in partially-shaded areas. I find that they almost always root properly this way, even though they are disconnected from their parents before setting real roots. I have done this into October with a near hundred percent success rate.

August is also a great time to continue compost production, provided the piles get enough water. I collect weeds, trimmings, and kitchen scraps, and layer them together into bins about five feet high, wetting the whole thing down thoroughly as I build it. I find that, during the summer, useable compost can be produced within about two months, provided the piles are turned a couple of times and not allowed to dry out too much. Roadside green-waste bins are a goldmine to me, and I routinely empty those near my home before the city has a chance to pick them up. My neighbours find this activity...interesting.

Though I do most of my seeding for fall/winter harvests in July, I sow peas during the first half of August, and I begin to sow winter cover crops towards the end of the month. Though traditionally planted in September and October, Fall Rye and various cold-hardy legumes grow well if sown in late August, as well.

Beginning in July, and continuing well into the fall, I collect, dry, thresh, and store seeds for next year. I find this to be a pleasurable way to pass time during afternoons when it's just too hot out for hard garden labour. I like to let most seeds dry on their own on the plants, at which point I cut them, tie them into bunches, and allow them to dry further in my living room. After a couple of weeks, the seed pods are cut off and stored as-is, or, in some cases, the seeds are removed from the pods ('threshed') and stored 'naked'. When the weather is very hot, sometimes I'm naked while sorting and storing seeds. I use glass jars with screw-top lids for storing most of my seeds. Interested in sampling some of my collection? Follow this link.

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