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Peter Henderson's Gardening Calendar
September
from Gardening for Profit, 1866
SEPTEMBER—The cool nights and moist atmosphere of this month begin
to tell strikingly on the crops planted for fall use; Celery, Cabbage,
and Cauliflower, now grow rapidly, and require repeated stirring of the
soil with the plow, cultivator, or hoe. Celery, that is wanted for use
towards the latter part of the month, may now be "handled," or straightened
up, and the earth drawn to it by the hoe; in a week or so after, if may
be "banked up" by the spade to half its height, allowed to grow for another
week or more, until it lengthens out a little further, when the banking
should be continued as high as its top. In ten days, (at this season),
when thus finished, it is blanched sufficiently to use, and should then
be used, or it will soon spoil. Care must be taken that no more is banked
up than can be sold or used, as it is not only labor lost, but is decidedly
hurtful to the Celery, by making it hollow. The practice recommended by
most authorities, and still practiced by private gardeners, is, to keep
earthing it up every two weeks from the time it begins to grow; this is
utter nonsense, resulting in [mak]ing Celery tough, stringy, and rusty—utterly
unfit to eat, while the expenditure in labor would be twice more than
the price it would bring if sold; for further information on this important
subject, see article on Celery. The seeds of Cauliflower, Cabbage, and
Lettuce, should be sown this month, from the 10th to the 20th, for the
purpose of being pricked out in cold frames to be wintered over; it is
very important that the sowing should be done as near these dates as possible,
for if sown much before the 10th, the plants may run up to seed when planted
out in spring, if much later than the 20th, they would be too weak to
be wintered over. Shallots and Onions should also be planted this month,
and Spinach and German Greens, or "Sprouts," sown to be wintered over,
all now for spring use.
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