Prepare now for Septembers HUGE planting guide. Plus propagation, what to plant now, and more holiday gift basket planning.
Edition 6: August 6, 2024
In this newsletter:
August planting guide
Tried & tested seed propagation techniques
How to prep for my HUGE Fall planting guide in September
What to start making for your holiday gift baskets
Subscriber Q&A
Sneak peek at your mid-August newsletter
(aka The Zen Hen). Some people are getting all geared up right now for the approaching football season. I feel a similar energy, however mine is entirely focused on one of my favorite times of year— Fall planting in Florida.
Fall planting signals cooler(ish) and dryer weather ahead, which means there are so many new things we can plant! (I would do “jazz hands” with excitement, but some dirt might fly off and hit my son in the eye.) Tis the season to get ready. Are you subscribed?
August Planting Guide
Amaranth | Beans (bush, pole & lima) | Borage
Carrots | Cassava | Cherry tomatoes | Corn
Cranberry hibiscus | Cucumbers* | Gingers
Herbs as companion plants or for seed | Luffa | Katuk
Malabar spinach | Marigolds | Mexican sunflower
Okra | Onions (bunching varieties) | Passion fruit
Peanuts | Peppers | Pidgeon peas | Pumpkins
Roselle | Southern Peas | Squashes | Sunflowers
Sweet Potatoes | Turmeric | Winged Beans
*Japanese-style heat-tolerant varieties like suyo long and China jade
Time to transplant fruit trees if you haven’t yet!
Tried & tested propagation techniques
What’s my number one money-saving gardening advice? Learn to start your own seeds instead of purchasing started plants, which gets very expensive very fast! Using my love of science and years of experience, I’ve come up with several techniques that help improve germination rate, healthy growth, and transplant survival. Nerd up, farmer friends— here are the factors you need to be aware of:
Presoaking seeds: Presoaking is absolutely worthwhile for seeds with thick coatings or larger seeds. Good examples include pumpkins, squash, and beans. I generally presoak for between 12-24 hours.
Soil temperature: Soil temperature matters, with most seeds liking between 70 and 85 F for proper germination.
Moisture: If there’s one thing that will kill a seed or new sprout fast, it’s dryness. Most seedlings do well when covered with vermiculite and/or a humidity dome, both of which help keep seeds evenly moist for the duration of the sprouting process.
Planting depth: Many seed packets have recommended planting depths. That info is there for a reason! In general, smaller seeds like tomatoes and peppers only like to be covered lightly by soil and/or vermiculite. Planting them too deeply will negatively affect germination rates. Meanwhile, larger seeds like pumpkins like to be planted 1/2 to 1 inch deep and corn prefers to be planted 1 1/2 to 2 inches deep for best results.
Light: Many people are surprised to learn that not all seeds need light to germinate. In fact, I’ve found that plants like tomatoes typically do better without a light source. Some seeds, like lettuce, do need light to germinate, but many other plants are indifferent or inhibited by light. If you want to give your little seeds the best chance at success, it’s best to do a little research here.
Check out the previous edition of this newsletter for my favorite seed-starting soil recipe. It makes a lot… but we’re going after an abundant harvest here, right?
How to prep for my HUGE Fall planting guide in September
September planting in Zone 9 especially is a big, magnificent event. But like any major holiday party, award ceremony, or quinceanera for your favorite cat— there is some planning and prep work involved. Now is the time, my friends, to do some sifting and sorting so that we’re off to a smooth start with our well-rooted harvest next month.
What to do outdoors in August:
I start by digging up the perennials that I want to keep (like peppers and cherry tomatoes) and rotating them to their new spot in my garden. Rotational planting not only frees up ideal growing space for your new plants, but it is also important for both pest prevention and soil preservation. We do NOT want to grow the same thing in the same spot all the time or the pests get comfortable and start setting up travel agencies to arrange their annual vacation to the squash patch.
Play weed slayer. This is the time to tame any weedy areas of my garden that got out of control over the summer. It happens. (Refer to last month’s newsletter for my weed killer recipe.)
Clean up any gardening beds that need plants or weeds removed. Then I add a layer of compost to gardening beds to get them ready for new plant additions.
Re-mulch your walkways. This is an easy garden upgrade that will make it easier to navigate through your garden space AND provide an oh-so-satisfying look once you’ve finished your September planting.
August is a great time to test your irrigation systems and timers in preparation for the drier months.
The Planning Phase
Start planning the layout of my Fall/Winter garden by making a list of what I want to grow and where it would do best in my yard. I do this taking into account both rotational planting (making sure I don’t plant the same thing in the same location) and companion planting (pairing items that grow well together).
When I know what I want to grow, then I plan my trap crops which I have covered extensively in my previous newsletters and on social media. These are the plants that will attract pests away from the food I’m growing and will also give me a heads-up that the pests are in the garden so I can treat my crops.
Next, I sort through the cooler weather seeds I have on hand and make a list of what I will need to order. Fun fact— I do sell several varieties of seeds. I also find some great buys on Etsy as well. Who knew?
*Garlic fans* Now is not the time to plant garlic, but it is the time to buy garlic and place it into our refrigerators. We’ll be planting it in late Fall.
What to start making for your holiday gift baskets:
In our last edition, I talked about the first thing to start now for your holiday gift baskets— extracts and tinctures. They ideally need to sit for 3+ months. Now is a good time to start planning out what else you’d like to put into the holiday gift baskets. Here’s what I’ll be doing in the next few weeks:
Thrifting for baskets and containers. I like simple square and rectangular woven baskets to hold all of the goodies. You can also find some great metal baskets as well. When I source containers I try to select something that the person will actually be able to reuse, rather than creating more waste. Also keep your eyes open for small metal tins or fancy teacups for candles, small bottles for extracts, and small jars for dried herbs or teas.
Brainstorm what you might want to add to your baskets. My list includes soaps, candles, teas, herbs, candied citrus, lip balm, lotions, extracts, seed packets, some version of limoncello, whipped honey, and jams. Decide what you’re up for growing/raising/creating and make a note of any ingredients that you’ll need to have in the coming months.
If you’d like to add saffron to your baskets, now is a good time to order bulbs as they will go into the ground here in zone 9 in September.
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Subscribers’ Questions Answered
What’s another benefit to subscribing to the Well Rooted Harvest? I’m here for you and your questions. If you follow my social media, you’ll see why I can’t possibly answer even half of the questions I receive. This Substack allows me to connect with the awesome people who value my business. (Thanks for that!) Got a question? Drop it in a comment below and I’ll get to it in the next edition.
Great question, Patti! The weed solution will still work in the shade, however it won’t be quite as effective as when used in sunny areas. Also worth noting, if you have bouts of rain, you’ll need to reapply the weed killer to your shady areas a few times for it to be effective.
Thanks for the question, Glynda. You know how much I LOVE garden huckleberries. They’re one of my favorite trap plants and make some really delicious jams.
The plants and seeds are a bit harder to come by. If you Google “solanum melanocerasum”, you’ll get one of the most common varieties of garden huckleberry seeds (which is different than just huckleberries, or eastern or western huckleberries). I also sell the garden huckleberry seeds I save on my Linktree site. https://linktr.ee/TheZenHenAndTheHoneyBee
Hope that helps!
See You Next Tuesday: Dehydrated Dreams Edition
Will this help your garden? Only occasionally. Will you be thoroughly entertained? Probably. These are my stories of the absurd, incorrect, and downright scammy things floating around the homesteading internet.
If you’re a homesteader then you know having a quality food dehydrator is an important piece of equipment. I recently wanted to upgrade the size of my dehydrator and went with a Cosori Kitchen $300 model. I was beyond excited to start using it but my hopes and dreams quickly shriveled up faster than the fruit slices I had placed in there because the machine died.
No big deal. Things happen, right? I got a hold of their customer service via email and spoke with a fellow named Chad. After Chad requested I jump through numerous hoops to prove the dehydrator was defective, he sent a new one my way. Yay for Chad!
Then came the second lunch bag letdown. When the model arrived I realized that the box it was packaged in was smaller than the broken dehydrator on my countertop. Did you just bait and switch me, Chad? Indeed. The replacement they sent was their smaller $150 model. Bad Chad.
Back to the email I went, only to find that Chad’s email was now full… as was their general customer service email… as was their voicemail for their 1-800 number. Basically Cosori’s customer service line was no more.
Now here’s the real kicker— as a social media personality, Cosori has actually reached out to me many a time asking for me to endorse their air fryers. I always decline. I figured, however, that maybe I could leverage that status with them to resolve this dehydrator issue. For the longest time, my dehydrator requests still went unheeded.
It wasn’t until I took to my TikTok and tagged them with the issue that they cared. Not only did they send me a new dehydrator, but they also sent me a small egg incubator as a thank-you gift. Neat… if I was a chicken hobbyist and not a professional breeder. It would be like the thoughtfulness of sending Gordon Ramsey an Easy Bake Oven.
I won’t be recommending Cosori anymore. If I didn’t matter to them when I was only a customer, and only matter now because I have an influence on other homesteaders, they are not the business for me. Customers should matter, regardless of what influence they might have over your business. That’s a business tip I wish everyone would take to heart.
Oh, and while we’re here… get Chad some customer service training, please. #EndRant
What’s In the Next Edition?
Here’s what’s coming to your inbox on Tuesday, August 20
More seed starting and garden prep for my big Fall planting list in September.
Holiday gift basket prep.
Too much cilantro? Not with this dip recipe.
Have questions? Drop them in the comment section below and I’ll cover them in my next newsletter.
What did you find most helpful or interesting in this edition?
Is there a certain type of garlic that grows well in Florida?
love all the info you share. I learn something every single time I see one of your videos. do you have any recipes for Chickasaw plum jelly or any spiderwort recipes? I have both abundant in my yard and have never really done anything with them. Thank you. Carmen (Palm Harbor, FL)