August Gardening & Seasonal Eating Guide for Zone 9

Here in Central California Zone 9 we are so fortunate because you can garden and harvest every month of the year! I’m a life-long gardener sharing tips I’ve learned myself as well as generational knowledge passed down to help get you ready to grow!

What To Plant This Month:

Believe it or not August is time to start thinking about your plan for the Fall/Winter garden! Flip through your seed catalogs and get an order in if needed! Nurseries and Garden Centers will have veggie starts available around the first week of October, which is right when you can start planting.

If you plan to start your own plants from seed, you can seed-start indoors and transplant out around that time. Seeds can also be started outdoors direct sown in place but it may mean sacrificing some space from your existing summer crops. If you're starting to drown in productive crops like tomato and zucchini -you may consider pulling a few plants out early to make way for fall.

Since summer crops like tomatoes can be productive even into November for our climate, it may be painful to let go of them! Especially since our weather doesn't force us to follow strict timelines

- Personally this year I made a point to plant 1 of my garden beds with carrots, leafy greens, herbs and flowers so that when the time comes ill simply harvest the whole bed at once and get into fall planting. You can do this same method with other crops, simply set a date for removing the existing plants. Rip off the band aid! - Or another way you can mitigate this issue is to plant your baby fall plants right in next to your summer plants, this works best under tall items like tomato or pole beans, the mature plants will shade the baby's and then then they're done producing you can simple shear the old plant away at the base of the stem at the soil line (leaving the roots in place) and remove those plants to give the little guys room to fill in - just be careful not to disturb the roots of your new plants in the process! Little tricky!

Don't forget - your fall seedlings will need consistent water and protection from the heat! Consider creating a shade structure for them till cooler weather sets in.

shade cloth example

While you're planning for fall veggies don't forget about flowers! Flowers that grow from bulb like tulips can be planted now for a beautiful display next spring!

Another bulb to consider is Garlic! Plant bulbs late this month or early Sept to overwinter!

Here's what I'm planning to plant in my own home garden for this fall, mostly from nursery starter plants:

• Broccoli

• Cabbage

• Parsnip (from seed)

• Carrots (from seed) - cold weather carrots tend to be sweeter than those grown in summer!

• Garlic

• Brussel Sprouts

• Cauliflower

• Sugar Snap peas (From Seed)

I recommend checking out Baker Creek Seeds and Johnny's Select!

Also - lots of garden centers will be running summer sales to move through plants that have been sitting at the store too long - sometimes you might find good deals on herbs or perennial plants that can be salvaged!

Gardening Tasks:

              There's always plenty to do in the garden! This list is designed to help put focus on tasks that are best completed in a timely manner to set you up for success in the coming growing season.

• Pinch new flowers off pumpkin/winter squash plants -this redirects energy toward the young fruit it's already carrying

• Remove dead or underperforming annuals, at this point in the year its time to cut your losses and save soil nutrients and water for the plants putting in the work!

• For seed savers - this is prime time to start saving seed from your top performing veggies, flowers and herbs!

• Check on tomato plants 1-2 times a week to harvest and continue tying indeterminate plants upward on their stake.

• Top up veggie beds with extra mulch, compost or manure if you notice low water retention.

• Are you watering enough? Remember its best to water deeply, less days of the week then just for a few minutes a day, shallow waterings often make for weak root development! Remember to water early in the morning or late in the afternoon to reduce evaporation!

• Harvesting! this will encourage the plants to stay productive longer! my tomatoes, peppers and zucchini have already been getting picked from over the last few weeks!

  • Make this a weekly habit!

• Continue pinching back your herbs like basil and epazote to encourage more branching and deter them from bolting in the heat! It'll get harder and harder to keep up with them, one of my cilantro and basil have already bloomed! Sharing with the bees!

• Dead-head annual and perennial flowers!

• Keep an eye out for pests like aphids and snails. Use neem oil or insecticidal soap spray on your plants and set snail traps around your tender leafy greens and berries.

• Remember to work in your garden in the early morning or late afternoon to avoid the heat! Stay safe!

What’s In Season?:

What produce you can expect to harvest from your garden or find at the local farmers market this month. Seasonal eating means focusing on sourcing produce that’s being freshly harvested in your area, rather than imported from tropical areas overseas or that’s been sitting in cold storage for months on end. An easy way to get an understanding of these fresh items is to visit your local farmers market, even just 1-2 times a month and purchase your produce there rather than at the grocery store, this not only provides you and your family with greater nutritional benefit due to the freshness of the items but it also supports local agriculture and small businesses. Check out my Farm Map by Clicking Here!

August brings an continued abundance of summer goodies, with the first few samplings of Autumn flavor!

• Stonefruit! Apricot, Nectarines, Peaches, Plums, Pluots, ect

• Melons

• Cucumbers

• Corn

• Summer squash like Zucchini and Yellow Crookneck!

  • Don't forget the squash blossoms!

• Tomatoes and Peppers

  • Make big batches of sauce or salsa with fresh ingredients! We freeze 1 cup cubes and use them throughout the year!

  • Keep an eye out for bulk deals you can freeze or jar up!

• Green beans!

• Strawberry, boysenberry, blackberry and raspberry plants can still be productive though typically winding down.

• Grapes

• Figs

• Pears

• Some Early-Season Apples

• Tender leafy greens like spinach, lettuce, green sprouts, and radishes

• Herbs such as chives, basil, epazote, oregano, rosemary, mint and more.

• Edible flowers such as borage or nasturtium.

  

  French toast topped with Blueberries warmed on the stove from frozen

  
  

Tips for Incorporating Fresh Ingredients in your everyday meals

As gardeners its extra painful to watch food go to waste but its very easy to get overwhelmed by the bucketloads of fresh zucchini, tomatoes or whatever else your hauling into the kitchen this time of year! Here are some ways we use up the excess!

• Get creative! Lots of zucchini? grate it all up and make several zucchini bread loaves! Enjoy the moist cakey loaves fresh, gift them to friends or even freeze them to reheat later!

• Turn fruit into jams, jellies, pies or other baked treats!

  • Check out this recipe for Peach bread!

  • Freeze it for smoothies! Here's our favorite smoothie recipe!

• Serve it fresh! Remember that not everything you harvest needs to be turned into something else! Don't overcomplicate it!

  • Top breakfast pancakes with berries or slices of fresh peach, drizzle it with honey or maple syrup!

  • Add a handful of cherry tomato as a side to any lunch or dinner plate! I even like to make my own little tomato topped crostini's with toasted bread to serve as a side with dinner.

• Freeze cubes of extra sauce, salsa or paste to use during the off season! Last year i even started tossing whole tomatoes into freezer bags which i took out later to thaw and make sauce with.

• Try new recipes! I often google 'Recipes to use up ____" to find lots of unique recipes i might otherwise not!

• One dish my husband and I cannot get enough of is this Skillet Sausage/Veggie Bowl with corn, bell pepper and zucchini topped with salsa and cilantro! Its delicious and filling without the 'heavy' full dinner feeling due to all the fresh ingredients. Click here for the Recipe!

Sausage Dish described above^

What are you working on or cooking up this month?! Comment below!