Having reached an age which some would call “ancient,” it does take me much longer to accomplish some basic tasks. Keeping up with weeds in the vegetable garden is one example. They have really gotten away from me this year.
In one area of the garden left vacant after an earlier harvest, the weeds have moved in. They are not only tall but are also fast approaching the time when they’ll be setting seeds. As such, removing these weeds is a top priority. My strategy is to mow down the weeds with my string trimmer and then rake up and remove them. Since they have not yet produced mature seeds, the debris will be tossed onto the compost pile. The vacated area can then be tilled and planted with buckwheat, a great cover crop that will suppress the development of weeds.
While on the subject of seeds, this is the time of year when many plants besides weeds are producing seeds. Dill is one example. We use dill frequently for canning pickles and for seasoning certain dishes. Yet, I can’t recall the last time I sowed seeds of dill in the garden. The plant itself takes care of that. Most dill plants in our garden have now reached maturity and are dropping seeds on the ground. These will give rise to next year’s plants. Yes, the plants will be scattered about the garden and some will need to be pulled up if competing with other vegetables, but it is still worth letting the dill take care of itself.
Here are some tasks that will not take care of themselves:
- Snip off the spent flowers and any seed pods on annual and perennial flowers. Removing seed pods will extend the flowering period of those plants.
- Reseed thinned areas of the lawn now that cooler weather has arrived. To begin with, mow the existing grass at 2 inches. Rake off the grass clippings and continue to scratch the soil with a garden rake to loosen the soil surface. Scatter the new grass seed and water deeply initially. Continue to water daily but lightly, just enough to keep the soil surface moist until the grass has germinated. Typically, it takes about 2 to 3 weeks for bluegrass varieties to germinate and a week or a little more for ryegrass and fine fescue to sprout.
- Try trench composting if you’re not moved to build a compost bin. To begin, simply dig a 12-18 inch deep and equally wide trench in a vacant area of the garden. Add kitchen scraps and non-seedy garden debris to fill the trench to half its depth and backfill as you go along with the dug soil. It’s a very effective way to not only dispose of organic wastes but also to enrich garden soils.
- Pinch a tomato. Um, I think that needs a little explanation. By pinching, I mean …….