What to plant in September

MARION OWEN photo Hardneck garlic loves Kodiak. And what's not to love? Big, flavorful cloves plus a bonus crop of curly scapes in summer. Last September, as I've done for many years, I sowed an entire raised bed with rows of spinach seeds. The seeds sprouted and grew about 3 inches. In mid-October, I covered the bed with plastic and hoped for the best. And then winter arrived. As many of you know, we had one of the coldest winters in years. Yet the spinach survived. I'd like to think the variety had something to do with it: Giant Winter spinach is known for its cold hardiness and ability to overwinter. As soon as our days stretched past 10 hours of daylight, around Feb. 20, the plants started growing again. We harvested fresh spinach until early June. Think about that. More than three months of spinach. That's almost unheard of with spinach planted in a typical spring garden. By the time spring-sown spinach gets going, the days are getting longer and temperatures are warming up. Spinach responds by bolting — sending up a flower stalk and calling it quits. But sow spinach in September and give the roots time to get established before winter, and you turn the tables. The young plants can overwinter, then take off as soon as the light returns in February. You can also get a jump on the season by sowing spinach in late winter — February or March depending on the weather — in a hoophouse. Either way, you'll be harvesting spinach while most gardeners are still waiting for spring. NEXT UP: GARLIC Over the years, I've enjoyed growing all kinds of herbs, especially garlic. But my first attempt at growing it got off to a rough start. After moving across town and starting a garden from scratch, I found myself garlic-less that summer. That meant I had none of my own cloves to plant for the following year. So in September, I ordered garlic from Frank Parente, a garlic grower on Whidbey Island, Washington, and anxiously waited for the box to arrive. Meanwhile, I prepared a raised bed with compost, fish bone meal, wood ashes, and kelp. Then I waited. And waited. Three weeks passed. 'It's early October and still no garlic,' I emailed Frank. 'I live on Kodiak Island in Alaska. Will it be too late to plant?' Frank apologized for sending the box Parcel Post rather than Priority Mail, but he wasn't worried. 'You'll be OK. The garlic is tough,' he assured me. As long as I could still work the soil, he said, the garlic would put down roots. The box arrived two days later. I grabbed it, my bucket of tools, and headed for the garden. Turns out, Kodiak has a great climate for growing garlic (Allium sativum), and fall is the time to plant it. Garlic planted now can begin putting down roots before winter, then sit quietly until the days lengthen and the soil begins to warm. By late February or early March, I often find green shoots pushing up through the spruce boughs covering the bed. But I'm getting ahead of myself. Hardneck or softneck? Garlic falls into two main groups: hardneck and softneck. For Kodiak, I prefer hardneck garlic. It loves cold winters, produces big cloves with wonderful flavor, and the loose skins make the cloves easier to peel. Did I mention some varieties are hot? Hardneck garlic also gives you a bonus crop. In summer, it sends up curly flower stalks called scapes. Cut them while they're young and tender and use them in stir-fries, pesto, or anywhere you'd like a mild garlic flavor. They also make wonderfully curvy additions to flower arrangements. The tradeoff? Hardneck garlic generally doesn't store as long as softneck. Softneck garlic usually produces more cloves, including lots of smaller ones toward the center. Its tight skins make it a better keeper and harder to peel. And if you want those beautiful braids of garlic hanging in the kitchen, softneck is your garlic. Start with the soil Frank, who grew 35 to 50 kinds of garlic, was adamant about two things: sun and soil. 'If you don't have a sunny place, forget it,' he told me. Garlic also likes loose, fertile, well-drained soil. Its roots go surprisingly deep, so give them at least 12 inches of good soil to work with. Before planting, I work compost into the bed. Over the years I've also used fish bone meal, kelp, and wood ashes, depending on what the soil needs. That last part is important. Don't add fertilizer simply because somebody — including me — tells you garlic needs it. A soil test will tell you what's already there and what, if anything, you need to add. How to plant garlic A garlic bulb is made up of individual cloves, and each clove can grow into an entirely new bulb. Now that's a good investment. Speaking of investments, Rooted will have their seed garlic in a couple weeks. Choose clean, healthy bulbs and carefully separate the cloves, leaving their papery skins intact. Try not to nick or bruise them. Damaged cloves are more vulnerable to rot and disease, especially in our wet soil. Frank gave me a wonderfully simple rule: If you smell garlic while separating a clove, don't plant it. Eat it. Plant each clove pointy end up, about four inches deep and four to six inches apart. I normally space rows about 12 inches apart. Or give yourself a little more room. Space the garlic rows 16 inches apart and, come spring, tuck a row of carrots between them. Two crops from the same bed. After planting, mark your rows and water the bed. Before winter settles in, I cover mine with spruce boughs. For extra protection, I bend PVC hoops over the raised bed and cover them with plastic, creating a miniature hoop house. Then I leave the garlic alone. Come late February or early March, I'll peek underneath those spruce boughs or plastic cover and usually find green shoots pushing their way toward the light. One last word about garlic Any movie buff knows garlic spooks vampires and thus keeps you from losing blood. As it turns out, garlic may do something good for your blood in real life, too. Researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham found that compounds from garlic can interact with red blood cells to produce hydrogen sulfide — a substance that helps blood vessels relax. Say what? Relaxed blood vessels allow blood to flow more easily, which may help explain why other studies have found that garlic can modestly lower blood pressure, particularly in people with high blood pressure. So plant garlic in September. Come next summer, you'll have plenty for pesto, stir-fries, roasted vegetables — and, should the need arise, vampires. See you next week! HOW YOU CAN SUPPORT LOCAL JOURNALISM Kodiak Public Media, Inc. has been granted 501(c)(3) public charity tax-exempt status, which means you can now support the Kodiak Daily Mirror with a tax-deductible donation. Visit KodiakDailyMirror.com and click Support Journalism. Questions? Call Janet at 907-486-3227 or email Info@KodiakDailyMirror.com. Got a gardening question? marion@gardenerscoach.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thegardenerscoach Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theupbeetgardener/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheUpBeetGardenerLog InKeep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language. PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK. Don't Threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated. Be Truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything. Be Nice. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ism that is degrading to another person. Be Proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts. Share with Us. We'd love to hear eyewitness accounts, the history behind an article.Now, more than ever, the world needs trustworthy reporting—but good journalism isn't free.Please support us by subscribing or making a contribution. Sorry, there are no recent results for popular videos. 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