August in the Garden

It is hard to believe that August is already halfway over. Now is the time to go out into your garden, notebook in hand and access how things went over the summer.

• If you are doing crop rotation, make not of which crops need to go where next spring, it is a good idea to write this down so that you don't forget.
• Also, now is the time to write down which plants did well and which ones did not. This is especially important if you've never gardened before. It will give you and idea of what plants do best on your land, which will make gardening next year a little easier.
• Write down any ideas that crop up about what you want to try out next year.
• If you have perennials that need to be thinned make note of the plants and thin them according to what works best for that specific plant.
• If you have raspberries, once their harvest is over (should be towards the end of the month) they can be pruned. You will want to prune out the old canes so that new ones will have room to grow.

And of course August is always a great time to be preserving your goodies so get out your pressure canner, waterbath canner, dehydrator, etc. and make your harvest last through winter!