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Kitchen Garden - September
Vegetables
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Sweetcorn will be ready to harvest when the silks have turned from golden to brown. For the sweetest taste, cook them within minutes of cutting.
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Ripe onions should be lifted carefully and laid out to dry before storing.
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Continue to harvest runner beans and courgettes. Make sure you don’t leave runner and French beans too long otherwise they will be stringy and tough.
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If you’re sowing out of doors this month you can speed up germination by putting a cloche over the seeds.
Herbs
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Parsley can be sown now for an early spring crop. If you have trouble germinating parsley try this foolproof method using J Arthur Bower’s Perlite. Add the parsley seed to some damp Perlite in a plastic box that can be sealed. Close the box and keep in a propagator at 21oC (70oF). Germination should occur within 7-10 days. The sprouted seeds can then be transplanted into a seed tray or small pots.
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Tidy up your herb garden by dead-heading and trimming back perennials and discarding annuals – all this material can be added to your compost heap.
Fruit
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Cover autumn-fruiting blackberries and raspberries with netting to keep off the birds, but check daily to ensure no animals or birds get trapped.
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Pick early varieties of apples as soon as they’re ripe and eat them – they won’t keep!
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If you want to obtain new fruit trees send off for some specialist catalogues. You’ll get a far wider choice that way.
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