September | Growing for the Future

To Do List

Covering your empty space.

Green manures are plants which help to add nutrients and fertility to your soil – these include phacelia, field beans, dwarf French beans, vetch and clovers.
Make a compost bin.

If you already have a vegetable garden:

There will undoubtedly be lots of weeds, so pull them out and put them in the compost (though not the weeds with seeds on them – put these in your brown bin).

If your veg garden has been looked after somewhat during the school holidays you could be harvesting some tasty crops.

You could be sowing or planting:

Oriental or winter salad leaves
Radish
Turnip
Kale

Plant out strawberry plants
they will probably stay in the same place producing lovely strawberries for 3 to 4 years so bear this in mind when choosing a place. Bearing in mind the school holidays in July and August, it would be best to plant either early varieties - (Honeyoye or Rosie or Gariguette) or perpetual varieties which should crop from mid-August to mid-October (Albion, Flamenco, Mara des Bois).

You could be harvesting:

Courgettes, Beetroot, French beans, Pumpkins, Chives, Spinach, Onions (planted in spring), Leeks, Tomatoes, Kale
Herbs
Apples, plums and pears
Berries – blueberries, blackcurrants and late maturing strawberries
The last of the rhubarb

Strawberry runners

These can be bought October – November or March-July. Pot grown strawberry plants are usually available from late spring and tend to be a bit more expensive.

Plant strawberry runners every 30-40cm (12 - 16") in rows spaced at 75cm (30") apart.

If you have empty space in your veg beds, cover with a cosy layer of compost, well-rotted manure, or sow an over-wintering green manure which can be dug into the soil in springtime. Covering your empty space will protect the soil from compaction and loss of nutrients through the action of winter rain. You can also simply cover with cardboard or black plastic, although be sure to weight this down.

Curriculum Resources

September Key Stage 1
PDF - 3.0 MB

September Key Stage 2
DOC - 3.6 MB

In the classroom

If you don’t have a garden yet or are looking for a quick growing project, you could grow pea shoots or micro cress.

Use recycled disposable plastic cups or yoghurt pots. Any dried pea will do. You can soak the peas in cold water for an hour or overnight beforehand which will speed up the germination process, but it’s not necessary. ¾ fill your pot with compost, dampen slightly and scatter 8-10 peas over the surface.

Cover with compost, keep moist but not wet and in about 3 weeks when the pea shoots are 8-10cm high cut them off with a pair of scissors.

If you cut them about 3cm up (above the first set of leaves) they will regrow to give you another crop. Pea shoots are great just eaten as a snack or tossed into salad. They taste just like fresh peas.

For funky micro-cress “hair”, save some empty egg shells from hard boiled eggs with the top off and draw some faces on them. Mostly fill with compost, dampen slightly and sow some mustard cress. Cover lightly with more compost, keep moist but not wet and in a couple of weeks the mustard cress will germinate and grow.

Cut off with a pair of scissors and scatter over salad or into sandwiches.