Early August Garden To-Do List
Vibe check: Are you still with us? Are you swimming out to your garden in this soupy humidity? Are you sick of fighting pests or determined to keep them from taking your plants down? Are you even going to garden in August or just take a break until it cools off? (FWIW: Either way is OK with us.)
For those of us who are gluttons for punishment, keep on reading to see how to we can try to find success in this month of garden stickiness.
Watering: Summer can be a challenging time to make sure your garden gets the right amount of water. We can have weeks of hot dry weather, and we can have seemingly endless wet spells, too. Veggies like to get the equivelent of 1-2 inches of rainfall a week. Here are some things to keep in mind when it comes to summer watering:
If you don’t have any kind of automated system for watering, the heat of summer might convince you to change that. Watering a big garden by hand on a daily basis can take a lot of time. You don’t have to get complicated or expensive with it. Even a simple soaker hose system like this can cover a lot of square footage, and is inexpensive and easy to hook up. You can run the hose while you do other chores, essentially cutting in half the time you spend tending the garden. Add a timer, and you can go out of town without worrying that your plants will die of thirst while you’re away.
Another option that some folks love is an “olla” or ceramic water vessel that’s buried in the soil and gently delivers moisture to the plants’ roots. Check out Growoya.
Don’t be tempted to set up a grass sprinkler to water the garden. In humid middle Tennessee summers, we have fungus floating in the air all around and the last thing you want is to keep your plants’ leaves wet, making it easier for those spores to grab hold and grow.
If you do have an irrigation system, don’t just set it and forget it. Regularly check the weather, feel the soil, and adjust as needed. Remember that the garden needs 1-2 inches of rain per week? My rule of thumb: for every 1/4 of rain we receive in a day, I pause my irrigation for a day. I.e., if we get 3/4 inches of rain in a big storm, I won’t run irrigation in my garden for 3 days. How do I know how much rain we got? I’m obsessed with my weather station. :)
Weeding: Even in raised beds, weed seeds can blow in and find a nice spot to grow. It might not seem necessary to pull out a tiny blade of grass or 2 inch tall chickweed, but it’s best to take care if it early and often before they do became a problem. Or maybe you’re staring at what has now become a problem and it’s time to tackle it as part of your prep for fall.
Harvest: Keep harvesting tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, beans, okra, eggplant, melons, summer squash and zucchini, and any winter squash that has a hard rind. Remember we planted carrots and onions way back in March? If you haven’t harvested those yet, they are probably ready.
And don’t forget the herbs! Basil should be producing a second harvest for you soon. It’s also a great time to harvest A LOT of your perennial herbs like oregano, thyme, rosemary, and sage to dry or use in other culinary projects. You can cut 1/3-1/2 of the plant for harvest and it should have time to recover and harden off before winter. For more ideas on how to use a big herb harvest, read this article.
Preservation: In August, we might be lucky enough to find ourselves with an overabundance of garden harvests. If you have more food than you can eat before it spoils, it’s time to consider some easy ways to preserve and store your harvest for later use.
The fastest way to deal with an overabundance of tomatoes? Wash and dry them, then freeze them whole. They can be dumped straight from the freezer into a pot for sauce-making this winter.
Blanched green beans freeze really well, too. I also like to batter okra before it’s frozen, so it’s ready to be fried later.
Herbs— dry, freeze, infuse oils and vinegars, so many options! Take advantage of this resource in your garden.
Beginner’s Guide to Preserving by Delilah Snell is a great overview of various ways to process your harvest and includes some great recipes. The fermented hot sauce is incredible!
Plant: There is still time to plant the quick growing summer veggies, but this really is the last chance. If you’ve got room and haven’t had enough, re-seed squash, corn, cucumbers, and beans. Make sure your variety will mature in less than 65 days.
Direct sow arugula and lettuce seeds in a shady spot. It might bee too hot, but you never know. Come September if you are harvesting lettuce, you’ll be glad you gambled with a few cents worth of seeds.
If the heat is really getting you down, why not sprout a jar of alfalfa seeds or grow some broccoli microgreens? Indoor gardening is great for the middle of summer as well as the short, cold days of January.
If you are planning to grow your own seedlings for the fall garden, start seeds indoors now. They should be ready to transplant outside in the first half of September.
Support: Continue to weave or tie tomatoes to their trellis. A stake next to the stem of peppers and eggplant will help support them as they get tall and loaded with fruit. Add more ties along the main stem as the plant continues to grow. Dahlias and other tall flowers like zinnias may also need a stake near their main stem. Look out for them to flop after a big rainstorm. They probably won’t stand upright again without help. And make a note in your journal to add a stake earlier in the season next year.
Prune: Perhaps you were away for a few days, or maybe you just didn’t see that cucumber hiding under the leaves and now it’s gigantic. Or worse yet, rotten and covered in ants. Put on some gloves and get it out of there. Overripe or damaged fruit is no good for you or your plants, and it’s attractive to pests. A hot compost pile or the trash is a better spot for it.
Keep pruning the older, yellowing or damaged leaves from tomatoes, squash, okra, and eggplant. It’s good for the plant, like people get a regular haircut to keep up with split ends.
Don’t forget to deadhead your flowers. Or better yet, cut them when they are in full bloom for a bouquet for your table.
After harvest, remove floracanes (2nd year canes) from raspberries and blackberries.
Feed: Continue to fertilize long-season plants like tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, and melons once a month. Use a fertilizer like TomatoTone or GardenTone which will encourage the plant to produce fruit rather than leaves.
Think about adding a nice layer of compost to your garden before you plant for fall. If you have time this month, get ahead of that chore so the fresh organic materials can start incorporating into your soil and be ready for planting time.
Pests: Hornworms, Squash Vine Borers, Striped Cucumber Beetles, Squash Bugs, and Flea Beetles are still causing issues. Hand-picking and drowning in soapy water is always a good approach. See our Growing Guides for more info on these pests and options for treatment.
Hang in there and keep up the good fight!
Diseases: With all the rain we’ve had over the past couple of weeks, you may be seeing fungal or bacterial disease hit your tomatoes. Just keep pruning off any damaged leaves and hope for the best. Some years, it’s not a question of “if,” but “when” our plants will be taken down. Copper fungicide may help, but it’s often too late once you see the damage.
Planning and Shopping: Make a list of what you’d like to grow this fall so you can be ready when the seedlings show up at the garden center. Identify spaces where you can tuck them into the garden so they get a bit of shade from tomatoes and other large plants, but will have room to grow once those summer crops finish up.
Journaling: It’s good point in the season to start making some assessments about your spring and summer garden. Simply noting what did and didn’t do well, what you want to repeat or change will be a big help when it comes to planning for next year.
