09/01/2021 6:00 AM
Clarín.com
Families
Updated 09/01/2021 6:00 AM
September is a great month for lovers of the urban garden.
The beginning of the warm days brings us closer to spring-summer sowing and the land fills with new species and opportunities.
It's time for lettuce, arugula, chard, spinach, carrot, radish, beet, tomatoes, aubergine, peppers, melon, watermelon, pumpkin, basil, parsley, coriander and numerous varieties of aromatics such as thyme, rosemary, oregano, lavender and curry.
The orchard of September
It is essential for the September orchard to take into account the risk of the last frost, which in Capital and its surroundings is August 31st.
"
As of September 1,
the spring-summer seedlings that we have been germinating can be removed, although it is always recommended to wait a couple of weeks more,"
Florencia Gallino
, founder of Sitopia, an urban regeneration project whose objective is
to tell
Clarín
facilitate urban cultivation (on Instagram, @ sitopia.ar).
The last frost is estimated on August 31.
Photo illustration Shutterstock.
The specialist stressed that it is not yet recommended to sow plants outside that require
heat
to germinate, but
short-cycle varieties such
as lettuce, arugula and chard
can be sown
.
Also, you can still put some spinach, carrots, radishes and beets, he added.
As for those with a
long spring-summer cycle
(fruits such as tomatoes, aubergines, peppers, melons, watermelons and pumpkins), if they have not germinated yet, it is preferable to do it “indoors, wait for the temperature to rise a little more and, By the end of September or the beginning of October, they can already be sown outside or the seedlings can be taken out ”.
The harvest time can vary depending on the crop and the part of the plant that we eat.
Photo illustration Shutterstock.
Meanwhile, the
harvest time
can vary depending on the crop and the part of the plant that we eat.
The director of Sitopia expressed that if what we want is the fruit -as in the case of the tomato- it is much longer, because the plant has to complete its entire cycle (germinate, develop, remove stem, leaves, flowers, those flowers are they have to pollinate, they have to form fruits, grow fat and mature).
On the other hand, when we eat the leaves of a plant, this is much faster because it is almost the first thing it gives.
In summary, it can be established that the harvest takes
between two and eight months
depending on the species
.
There are very fast harvests, like a radish or the leaves, and others that take much longer, like all those of fruit.
Space is no excuse
Not all of them have extensive fields to start their garden.
However, size is not a problem if you go to the right species.
In small containers it is recommended to plant vegetables from which we eat their leaves.
Photo illustration Shutterstock.
"In small spaces, small plants are recommended, everything has to be proportional in life," said Gallino.
Otherwise, the roots of very large plants will not find enough space or nutrients to complete their cycle or give us the harvest organ that we eat, he said.
So, in
small containers
, it is advisable to plant vegetables from which we eat their leaves, such as arugula, lettuce, chard, spinach, basil, parsley, coriander and aromatics such as thyme, rosemary, oregano, lavender and curry.
It is vital to take into account the importance of a good substrate.
Photo illustration Shutterstock.
Tips for a successful garden
Florencia Gallino gave a series of recommendations to obtain good results in the September garden:
Find out, try to research, take a garden course.
Sometimes people start sowing with very little information and get frustrated.
Take into account the importance of a good substrate, this is one of the guarantees of a successful garden.
Know which are the correct vegetables to put in the garden.
Know what type of insects can appear and how to handle them.
Observe how much sun each plant needs.
Learn about the minimum sizes of the pots according to the plant that is being cultivated.
From the ground to the table
The
benefits
of the garden are diverse.
These cover aspects related to food but also exceed it.
The benefits of the garden do not only have to do with the taste.
Photo: Shutterstock.
According to Gallino, bringing our own crops to the table "is totally different from eating something that you buy at the greengrocer, we don't know who produced it, how it was produced, which comes from having been harvested a few days ago, passed through various transports and refrigerations, which if it is not organic, it was most likely produced with products of chemical synthesis and not very harmoniously with the cycles of nature ”.
On the other hand, he stressed that, beyond the taste of something organic, fresh,
just harvested
, full of life and nutrients, there is another point that is vital.
"The whole experience of putting a seed, accompanying the entire cultivation process and that this becomes your food is unique and changes the way you value what you are consuming," he concluded.
Look also
Urban garden: how to make homemade compost
These are the most frequent mistakes in any urban garden
Vegetable garden in wooden drawers: step by step to assemble it at home
Urban garden: what do you have to know if you are an “amateur garden grower”
Cacti and succulents: how to water them without drowning them, multiply them and other care that you have to know
How to build a botanical corner with indoor plants