Gardening in August- what you can do for You!

Hey Gardeners! How has your garden been growing? I hope very well.

As the summer season ticks down, it's time to keep those gardens cleared of debris to help reduce the spread of diseases that will affect your plants and production. Clean out dead leaves and don't put anything that is infected into your compost heap or bin. Weeds that have gone to seed don't belong in your compost either as they will be happy to be reintroduced in your garden next season.

Do your best to water below the leaves on your plants to prevent sun burn (scald). Keeping the leaves dry also helps to prevent powdery mildew from getting a grip on your plants. Drip irrigation or porous hoses do a great job of this.

Now is the time to scout for the mildews as they are infiltrating gardens right now. Look for yellowing of leaves, leaves that turn brown and wrinkly, leaves with the white patches of mold (don't forget the underside of leaves). Erradicating as much as you can will help to prevent the spread. Wash your hands after handling the infected material as it will spread to unaffected areas if you don't. Remember that powdery and downey mildews are typically airborne. They are going to be present. Again, don't put it in the compost.

The best ammendment to your garden soil is compost. To speed the composting process, make sure to mix dry "brown" plant material (such as the bedding from my rabbits cage, dry leaves, etc) with your "green" material, which includes garden clippings, weeds that haven't gone to seed, grass clippings, etc. Layering of "brown" and "green" matter in the compost pile helps to provide a premium environment for breaking down the matter into a rich soil ammendment. A heap that is 3 square feet is the optimum size for heating up and breaking down. Turn it every other week so that the stuff on the outside gets a chance to be on the inside to break down. You will know when it is ready to turn when it has cooled down in the middle. (The pile will get really warm- even steam_ when the mircrobes and other little critters are hard at work making compost).
The compost heap will heat up again after turning because it has more to eat, basically. It'll be ready for use when it doesn't heat up anymore and everything is a dark, crumbly brown. If your heap has trouble gettng going, it may be too dry. Sometimes you have to give it a sprinkling of water. If your heap is smelly (a compost heap shouldn't be stinky) there is a problem with the amount of "green" vs "brown" matter in the heap. Add more brown matter, stir, and monitor how wet it gets. Compost heaps that are too wet also won't do well. It should be as moist as a well wrung out sponge, no more and not much less.

Still time to throw in more cool weather seeds! Try another planting of lettuces or spinach, for example. Can be shaded by taller plants now and they'll provide well into Fall for you.
Happy Gardening!