August is here, and with it some of our hottest weather. It’s also a very dry month, and unless we have a tropical storm or hurricane, we will have to rely on scattered thunderstorms until late September or October brings showers with the first cool fronts. The heat of summer is the deep south’s answer to the northern states’ icy winter. Working outside in the heat is possible, but typically unpleasant, if not downright dangerous. Most plants have already, or will soon, go to seed and succumb to the combination of heat, dry weather, and insects. A few plants still produce, including okra, some melons, and a few tomatoes. Even heat loving tomatoes get somewhat spotty, they still bloom, but are not as likely to set fruit in higher temperatures. I’ve noticed my Chinese long beans, given a lot of water, seem to still be producing, but all the other beans have shut down production.
This past week I started getting the walkways and non- veggie growing areas of the garden cleaned up. I had let them go for far too long, (see pictures above) and they were beginning to colonize the beds. It always takes longer than I hope, and of course the heat has a say in everything, making a one hour job into an exhausting several hour task. I managed to get the pathways mowed and the edges of the beds cleared of weeds and high grass. (see pictures below.) My composting system gets five big bags of nitrogen rich grass clippings, so as usual, nothing organic leaves the property, and nothing goes to waste. In keeping with the philosophy of Kaizen, the rest of the cleanup will take place over the next week, or even longer… small steady improvements.
August Planting: Please note once again, there are often such a wide selection of vegetable cultivars (varieties) available that I will not be making any particular recommendations beyond the basic type. I am just giving a little advice on the best time to plant in general. Your experience may vary due to the particulars of your garden. August is the time for planting in anticipation of some fall crops. Seeds and plants that can go into the ground now are bush variety snap beans, cucumbers of all varieties, and a late crop of summer (yellow and zucchini) squash. If you like sweet potatoes this is a good time to plant the slips. It may be too late to get a crop for Thanksgiving, but it’s worth a try. Some onions do well planted in August. Bunching or “multiplying” onions do well and will be ready for fall eating. More hardy herbs such as Basil, Dill, Sage, Rosemary and Chives that do well in the relative cool of spring will likewise do well in the cool of fall. The heat of late summer will help seeds sprout, and cooler fall temperatures will allow them thrive, and given protection from freezes, last well into winter.
As always, any remaining plants that have finished production or have succumbed to heat and pests can be removed to the compost pile. Of course, to avoid infecting the next generation, diseased plants should be burned or disposed of away from the garden. Weed pulling, mulching, and applications of compost are always appropriate and can be continued.
Irrigating: I spot water individual plants during the hottest and driest parts of August, they will often wilt during the hottest part of the day, and recover somewhat as the heat subsides. If the garden does happen to get a good soaking rain from a passing thunderstorm, it might not be necessary to do any watering , just do what the plants tell you. It’s best water early in the morning when the heat is less intense, and moisture on the leaves will have time to evaporate before direct sunlight causes sun scald.
The To-Do project for this week is to work on the edges of the garden around the fences. I let them get out of control in May and June, and then ignored them through July. Now they are threatening to send weeds, overgrown grass runners and rogue vines into the planted beds. Once again I’ll post about it once it’s done, and if I remember to take them, provide some pictures of the process. That’s it for the August Monthly Schedule post. I plan to set up a more organized presentation of information for future posts.
