August Gardening Tips- Gardening Task and What to Plant in August Zone 9a.

August is a busy month for most homesteaders and gardeners. Preserving & canning season is in full swing. Did you know that this is the month to start your fall vegetable garden? That’s right, it’s already that time of the year to start planning and planting your cool veggie crops like kale and swiss chard. Below is a list of what plants to sow in August. 

THE CALENDAR TASKS AND CHORES FOR AUGUST

• Continue to mulch to conserve soil moisture and to control weeds
• Keep harvesting fruits, herbs, and vegetables for continued production.
• Do the final summer pruning for fruit bushes.
• Prune Apricot trees to avoid Eutypa Fungus. Remove about 20% of this years growth.
• To prevent the spread of rot, clean up debris around fruit trees and pick up damaged fruit.
• Control salt buildup on indoor plants. Give household plants a good bath outside and keep in the shade when your waiting for the leaves to dry.
• Set melons and pumpkins on a board or brick to prevent rot.
• Deep water trees and large shrubs.
• Set out bails for slug (slug traps). Avoid watering at night when the slugs are more active.
• Plan your fall garden.
• Fertilize camellias, azaleas, and gardenias with chelated iron if there is yellowing between the leaf veins.
• Fertilize strawberries; when you see new berries growing, now is the time to fertilize your strawberries with a balanced formula 10.10,10 or 20.20.20. this will provide the strawberries with all the nutrients it need for a strong growth, healthy roots, and a good crop. Another way is to add seaweed (kelp), bone meal , compost, or well rotted manure as an organic option.
• Fertilize fruit trees; After harvesting fruit, add nitrogen and water.
• Citrus Trees; This is the last feeding of the year for the citrus trees and Avacodo’s. I’ve tried a couple of brands in the past, Dr. Earth and Down To Earth Citrus Fertilizer.
• SWEET CORN; sweet corn tastes good only perfectly ripe. Wait until the tassels at the top of the cob turns dark brown before checking.
• TOMATO, SQUASH, AND PUMPKIN need plenty of sunlight to ripen, but the fruit is often shaded by foliage. Prune leaves covering squash and pumpkins to allow light. On the tomato plants, take off the lower leaves to allow more light and help the lower tomatoes to ripen first.
• Raspberries; After the summer fruiting is harvested, cut down to the ground to allow more light to the fall fruit bearing cane (new growth). Support new canes when needed.

WHAT TO PLANT IN AUGUST

• Sow winter annuals; like sweet alyssum, crimson clover, and stock flowers
• Sow seeds of perennials in flats or pots for transplanting in October. Try thrift, yarrow, coneflower(echinacea), and salvia.
• START SEEDS INDOOR; cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, kale, bunching onions, and swiss chard.
• DIRECT SEED; Oriental greens, beets, carrots, lettuce, turnips, Florence funnel, mustards, radish, rutabaga, spinach, and leeks.