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Carrots, beets, radishes, mustard greens, collards, kale, spinach, broccoli and lettuces are some of the vegetables which prefer cooler weather for growing. If you make some room in your garden now, clearing and preparing the soil, you’ll be ready to take advantage of waning moon time, the first two weeks in September, to plant root crops.
Do any of you still plant by the moon? It really does work, and I know many old-timers still swear by it. The Stella Natura calendar that I use is very detailed, and gives the information for the best days to sow leaf, root, flower and fruit and which days to avoid.
Sept. 5, 9, 10 and 11 are indicated as the best “root days”.
Root crops need 10”-12” of un-compacted, loamy soil to do their best. Building sand and compost are great amendments to lighten up heavy soils and discourage funky gnarled or forked roots.
Carrots and beets both appreciate an addition of greensand to the soil. A very light sprinkling of borax on top of the soil where beets are to grow will produce sweeter, more tender beets.
If you enjoy Italian bulb fennel, this too can be direct — seeded now for mature bulbs before heavy frosts arrive. I like to start leeks indoors for over-wintering sometime in early August. ‘Blue Solaise’ is a hardy old variety that can be pulled up in March or April, unless you want baby leeks in November or December.
Leeks should be transplanted from pots when they are the diameter of a pencil. To get a good length of blanched, or white leek, place them in 8”-10” trenches or deep holes made with a dibber. Then, add soil gradually around the base as the leeks grow, until the soil is level with the rest of the garden.
Radishes are easy to grow from seed and like fertile, well-composted soil. Alfalfa meal is a great fertilizer for them, or sow radishes in an area previously cover-cropped with clover or another leguminous green manure. Leaf mold
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