Jobs for the Month: September

August's legacy this year was some very soggy looking beds. Roll on some September sun please!

Our outdoor tomatoes took a real bashing in fact the only ones to survive the season were covered from the rain in our Mini Raised Beds.

These were planted with a mix of tomatoes some in growbags, others planted in the beds.

We had a lovely early crop of  yellow 'Golden Queen' - one I would recommend. The frames provided great support for the growing strings I used and the cover protected them from the worst of the rain and blight.

One word of advice pinch out those tops frequently if growing under plastic covers - if they are up against them they will sweat, turn to mildew and increase chances of blight. Plastic also means easier transit for slugs and snails.

After the tomatoes are gone I am using the beds for a winter crop of beet, chard or spinach. The cover will come in handy to provide protection against the worst of the late winter weather.

I do not like gaps in the garden but I do like Beans. Sowing again later means cropping for a longer period.

But what about fitting in a support to an already planted bed? I used a  Maypole Climbing Frame  to fit in that extra crop between late orache and lambs lettuce, thats where the broad beans used to be. Other gaps will be filled with autumn garlic and onion sets.

After that if there is any more bare ground I will sow a 'green manure', more on this next month.

The trusty Felco Secateurs came out to take down those fruited Raspberry Canes to ground level.

The remaining 'green' canes are thinned out and then bent into their sturdy Timber Raspberry Supports and tied securely with soft tie.

The old canes are then put through the shredder before making their way to the compost heap where I treat them as 'brown' waste, layering them between 'green' material [of which there is plenty this time of year].

When clearing the beds of companion planting which has 'gone over', remember to save some of the stems and seedheads.Turn them upside down place in a paperbag, hang them in dry spot and you will have seeds for free that are more suited to your growing condition.

Do try to gather on a dry day, remove from heads/stems when brown and brittle, check for mould and bag up into labelled sealed bags or envelopes. You could try out the Seed Saving Kit.

I will not be saving any seed from my tomato plants this year. Blight affected most of the garden and I do not want to risk contaminated plants sprouting from contaminated seeds that could mean next year's crop spoiled before even a drop of rain falls.

So still plenty to do - best get to it.