MAGIC OF GARDENING
Kohlrabi (shown here) can be planted up until September 15th
FALL GARDEN CARE AND MAINTENANCE DON'T PUT AWAY YOUR GARDEN GLOVES YET! BY B E T H A N Y O ’ R E A R I love that time of summer when tomatoes, peppers, squash and other “prime season” vegetables seem to crowd each other for attention. The rush to pick, process and share seems never-ending – until it does. Summer heat has prevented plants from setting any more fruit and plants are starting to look raggedy, if not downright puny, from disease. No amount of fertilizer or watering can turn the garden back to its glory of just a few weeks before. But this is only another natural pause in the 12 months of gardening we can enjoy in Alabama. Don’t put away 62
Cooperative Farming News
your garden gloves and tools just yet. Start by removing plant stakes, hoses and support cages. Clear the soil of fallen vegetables, fruits and flower materials. Remove mulch that might harbor disease and give the surface a clean sweep with a hoe to deter weed seedlings which are still thriving nonstop. When you have finished this first, and critical, step of sanitizing your garden, you have a few choices – all of which will benefit the next growing seasons. You might want to plant a fall vegetable garden.
