August Gardening Tips: Harvest Onions, Store Fruit, Sow Fall Veggies

By Charlie Nardozzi, Horticulturist and Leonard Perry, University of Vermont Extension Horticulturist

Sowing fall vegetables, storing summer fruits, and harvesting onions are some of the gardening activities for August.

• August is the time to sow veggie seeds for a late summer or fall harvest: Lettuce, broccoli, beets, carrots, radishes, and other short-season crops. Bear in mind that the date to maturity of late summer planted vegetables may be extended by as much as two weeks, due to the shortening length of days.
• Shade lettuce, if possible, during the late afternoon to keep young plants cooler, or grow them next to larger plants, such as tomatoes, that provide some shade.  Shading is easy using a white row cover over a frame or wire hoops.
• Water lettuce seedlings often, and mulch between rows to preserve moisture and block weed growth.

Freeze berries and other fruits

Don’t let fresh fruits and berries go to waste. Freezer jams are surprisingly easy to make, and even regular “canned” jam is pretty straightforward and makes a great gift. At the very least, freeze some berries for later use; simply spread them out on a cookie sheet and place them in the freezer; once they’ve frozen, pour them into freezer bags and seal. Use plastic bags especially sold for freezer use, as these prevent the fruit from drying out as happens with normal resealable bags.

Harvest onions

Begin harvesting onions when about half to three-quarters of the leaves have died back. Gently dig or pull the onions and store them in a dry, shady place with good ventilation, such as an outdoor shed, covered patio, or barn, for 10 days to 2 weeks. Then put them in slatted crates or mesh bags and store them indoors. A cellar with low humidity and fall temperatures between 33 and 45 degrees F is ideal.

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Harvest sweet corn

Harvest sweet corn early in the day for the best flavor. Before harvesting, squeeze the ears to see if they’re firm and wait until the silks have browned and dried. Eat immediately unless growing the supersweet varieties that will hold their sweetness for a few days. Store in the refrigerator.

If you don’t grow sweet corn, or enough of it, buy it at local farmer’s markets or farm stands and cut it off the cob to freeze for winter eating.  Make sure and blanche it first (Blanching is simply boiling vegetables for a short period to kill enzymes that cause their deterioration). Place sweet corn in boiling water for 4 to 6 minutes, then remove and cool. Using a knife or corn scraper, remove kernels and place on cookie sheets or trays in a freezer. Once frozen, store in resealable plastic freezer bags.

Begin to sow cover crops

As you remove spent plants from your garden beds if you’re not planting a fall crop as mentioned above, sow a cover crop such as winter rye. This will help reduce weed infestation, minimize erosion and compaction from fall rains and snow, and will add nutrients and organic matter to the soil when it is tilled under next spring.

Let rose hips develop

Roses need to start their hardening-off period by the end of August. It’s hard to refrain from cutting the flowers, but allowing some to form hips will help signal the plant to begin this process.  Consider harvesting some ripening hips for teas and jams.

Don’t rely on nature to provide enough water for trees and shrubs that you’ve planted this year. Deep watering once a week will encourage deep roots which better withstand droughts and better anchor trees.

August may be ferociously hot, but there’s still plenty of work to do in your garden!

This article originally appeared on the University of Vermont Extension Service website.