{"id":4068,"date":"2025-07-09T20:03:57","date_gmt":"2025-07-09T19:03:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/whetstoneallotments.co.uk\/?page_id=4068"},"modified":"2025-09-17T19:07:58","modified_gmt":"2025-09-17T18:07:58","slug":"september","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/whetstoneallotments.co.uk\/?page_id=4068","title":{"rendered":"September: Gather, Sow, and Grow"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>September is a month of transition &#8211; summer growth is slowing, but there&#8217;s still plenty to harvest and prepare for the cooler months ahead. Here are a few jobs to keep in mind on the plots this month:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Harvest regularly<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Beans, courgettes, cucumbers, and tomatoes are often at their best now. Pick little and often to keep plants productive and avoid gluts going to waste.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Cut pumpkins and winter squashes &#8211; cure them so they will keep over winter by leaving them in the sun to harden their skins.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Lift and store<\/strong> &#8211; Maincrop potatoes, onions, and garlic should be lifted once the foliage has died back. Dry thoroughly before storing in a cool, airy place.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Sow for autumn and winter<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Hardy greens like spinach, pak choi, rocket, and turnips can be sown now for cropping into the colder months.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Sow broad beans seeds outside or start them in pots.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Plant overwintering crops<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>September is a good time to put in overwintering onions, garlic, shallots and spring cabbage for an early start next year, and check them regularly as birds love to pull them out.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Cover autumn salads and Oriental leaves with cloches or fleece to protect from frost.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Look after the soil<\/strong> &#8211; Clear away spent crops, weed thoroughly, and add compost or well-rotted manure to bare beds to enrich them for next season.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Tidy and prune<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Cut back fruiting canes such as summer raspberries, tie in new growth, and prune stone fruit trees once harvesting is done.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Clear away dead plant material and compost it \u2013 except diseased plants and perennial weeds which you should burn or take off the site.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Take down and store supports for beans, peas and tomatoes.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Save seed <\/strong>&#8211; Beans, peas, and tomatoes can be left to ripen fully and dried for seed saving, ready for next year&#8217;s sowing.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Think ahead<\/strong> &#8211; Now&#8217;s the time to plan green manure sowings, order spring bulbs, and prepare cloches or fleece for protecting late crops.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>September is a month of transition &#8211; summer growth is slowing, but there&#8217;s still plenty to harvest and prepare for the cooler months ahead. Here are a few jobs to keep in mind on the plots this month:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":170,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-4068","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/whetstoneallotments.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4068","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/whetstoneallotments.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/whetstoneallotments.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whetstoneallotments.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/170"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whetstoneallotments.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4068"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/whetstoneallotments.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4068\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4173,"href":"https:\/\/whetstoneallotments.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4068\/revisions\/4173"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/whetstoneallotments.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4068"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}