Students pulling weeds at Dunbar Middle School
August 2023 - prep and plan
Welcome back! We are beyond excited to hit the ground running in your gardens this year. Hopefully you all are excited as well, but don’t start planting just yet. August is still too hot for most crops (and most people) in zone 10. September and October will be prime months to direct seed or transplant most of our favorite vegetables like tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce, and more.
That doesn’t mean there isn’t plenty of work to be done! This is the perfect time to prep and plan. The more you do now, the better your garden will grow in the months to come. Here are ideas of what to work on in August:
- Install, check, and test irrigation systems!
- Uncover or rebuild hydroponic towers and replace growing medium
- Add soil amendments to raised beds such as compost, fertilizer, or additional soil (recover with cardboard or tarps until planting time)
- Build, install, or repair any shade structures, arches, trellises, benches, raised bed walls or other non-plant elements of your garden
- Clean and organize your tools and supplies
- Mulch like crazy around fruit trees and perennial plants
- Save seeds from anything that died and went to seed over the summer
- Set some garden goals for the year
- Work with students, cafeteria managers, culinary teachers, etc. to determine what you want to grow. Write down your wish list for plants and seeds and sketch out a plan for what to grow, where, and when
- Germinate seeds indoors that you can move to towers or raised beds next month
If you planted sweet potatoes at the end of the school year, feel free to weed and water them, but wait another month or so before you start digging around. They usually take 85-120 days to reach maturity.
This year is going to be awesome! We can’t wait to work together to make your gardens overflow with beauty and bounty that your students and staff will be proud of.