Beginner Gardening Series: September Edition
September is the month where you can look at your garden and take stock of what worked and what didn’t, harvest the remaining produce growing in the garden (except for a few frost loving plants, will talk about that later) and put your garden to bed for the winter. If you live in some of the warmer climates, you can now restart your garden! For the plants that like the heat (like tomatoes and peppers), start the seeds indoors or buy starter plants. I, however, live in zone 5-6, so no replanting of the garden here. I will be taking the steps to put my garden to bed and do what I can to get it ready for next Spring.
T A K E N O T E
Get yourself a cute little notebook (don’t we all buy one everytime we go into Target?!) and take note of your garden. What grew well in the garden this season? Did your tomatoes get enough sun? Did your squash plant succumb to mildew? These are observations that will help you in planning your garden for next year! Your placement of plants may change based on your observations. For me, I need to move where I planted my squash because it was affected by mildew. So…I need to find a place that gets more sunshine to prevent this from happening again.
W H E N T O H A R V E S T
Are you daily looking at your peppers wondering if they are ever going to turn red?? While it is ideal to let peppers, like tomatoes, ripen on the vine, there does come a time when all the peppers and tomatoes need to be harvested from the garden and left to ripen indoors, out of direct sunlight. So yep, harvest your tomatoes and peppers, even if they aren’t perfectly ripe and let chemistry do it’s thing indoors. Now with this said, if you have planted some “cool crops” you can leave them in the garden until after the first frost. Some cool crops are Kale, Broccoli, Cauliflower, Brussel Spouts, Spinach, Collard, Asparagus. A quick Google search of “cool crops” will provide a great resource if you are wondering if any crops you have planted are considered a “cool crop”.
TIP: you can leave carrots in the ground through the Winter (they may actually get sweeter as the carrot holds on to it’s sugar to combat the cold), however, you will need to harvest them before Spring as they will go to seed and not be edible.
P U T T I N G the G A R D E N to B E D
One thing I always need when going to bed is a blanket, your garden likes one too! There are a couple of ways you can create a “blanket” for your garden. You can grow a cover crop. Stay with me here, this sounds much more complicated than it really is. A cover crop is as simple as tossing some seeds on your cleaned out garden bed. This helps create a barrier between the Winter elements and your garden soil. Cover crops also give back vital nutrients that were taken from the soil to produce all your yummy veggies! A seed that I recommend is Cereal Rye. Sprinkle the seed ideally 4 weeks before the first hard frost, or as soon as you can after cleaning your beds. Literally let nature do the work and watch it grow. If planting another crop has you rubbing your temples, then a nice layer of straw or some other type of mulch will also provide a sufficient barrier for your garden soil against the harsh winter elements.
10 Gifts Under $100 for the Mom Who Loves to Garden
If your mom lights up at the first sign of spring, finds joy in getting her hands in the soil, and has more plants than you can count—this list is for her. We’ve rounded up 10 thoughtful gifts under $100 that will make any garden-loving mom feel seen, celebrated, and inspired.
Whether you’re shopping for Mother’s Day, her birthday, or just because—these picks are practical, beautiful, and guaranteed to bring a smile to her (plant-loving) face.
1. The Chicken Lady Gift Set
If your mom’s garden includes a flock of hens (or she just loves a quirky gift), this set is practical and full of personality.
$42 – RooGardening.com
2. Flower Seed Collection from Sow Right Seeds
Let her dream up next season’s blooms with a curated set of flower seeds. With themes like “Cut Flowers” and “Pollinator Favorites,” there’s something for every kind of garden.
$16.99 and up – SowRightSeeds.com
3. Joey Apron Bundle
A sleeker, more compact version of the Roo Apron, perfect for quick garden tasks or when she’s just out snipping herbs.
$49 – RooGardening.com
4. Heirloom Gardening Bib Overalls
Stylish, rugged, and built for bending, digging, and hauling—these overalls are made for serious (and seriously stylish) garden work.
$99.50 – DuluthTrading.com
5. “Growing Flowers” Coffee Table Book
Beautiful and informative, this book is full of lush photography and practical tips for cut-flower gardening. It’s the kind of book she’ll love flipping through over and over.
$22.99 – Amazon
6. Botanical Bath Salts
Let her soak and soothe after a long day outside. These small-batch bath salts are made with garden-inspired ingredients like calendula and lavender.
$18 – Homestead & Chill
7. Enchanted Garden Personalized Stationery
For the mom who likes to write notes with a personal touch. This floral design is feminine, elegant, and garden-inspired.
$35 – Papier.com
8. The Roo Apron Bundle
This is a game-changer. Designed by gardeners for gardeners, the Roo Apron holds tools, produce, weeds—you name it. Durable, breathable, and available in fun colors, it’s a gift she’ll use daily.
$59 – RooGardening.com
9. Gardener’s Seed Saving Kit
Help her preserve her favorite varieties with this beautifully designed kit. It includes everything she needs to collect and store seeds year after year.
$38 – UncommonGoods.com
10. Springtime Floral Glasses
A set of these charming glasses brings the garden indoors. Perfect for sipping iced tea after a day of weeding.
$42 – AlisWagon.com
Whether she’s planting perennials, harvesting herbs, or just soaking up sunshine in her garden, the right gift shows her you see and appreciate what brings her joy. These under-$100 picks prove that thoughtful doesn’t have to mean expensive—and any one of them is sure to make her feel celebrated. Here’s to the moms who bloom where they’re planted and inspire us to do the same.
Shop Small: Unique Gift Ideas for the Gardener on Your List
Meet Kati, owner of the Urban Lady Bug and creator of these amazing hand crafted goats milk soaps. You have never smelled a better smelling soap!!
The Urban Lady Bug Farm & Homestead is a small-scale 1.1 acre farm in Copperopolis, California.
Our blog focuses on organic food gardening, micro-flower farming, plant-2-pantry preserves, garden-to-table recipes, baking with sourdough, raising livestock, beekeeping and more
SHOP NOW
Meet Heather the creator behind Modern Mini Homestead Ceramics. You will find so many beautiful and unique pieces for everyone on your list!
This little outdoor world is where I find inspiration for my art. Flowers, animals, sea creatures and bright colors and patterns are constant themes. Bringing a little bit of nature indoors with pottery is how I keep a happy home. I hope you find the same sense of calm, peace and happiness through these one of a kind pieces, as I do.
Use code ROOAPRON10 for 10% off your purchase!
SHOP NOW
Meet Austin who along with having the most fun out of anyone in the garden, creates some amazing herbal teas that are a must try!I am a garden educator and enthusiast teach others to grow their own food and build their best life through gardening. I am also the owner of Duck River Apothecary, we create wellness tea blends to help build health holistic habits. Garden grown and blend with love for a perfect cup.
SHOP NOW
Meet Mandi half of the Wild Oaks Farm team. They have created some of the best cream you will ever put on your skin! You will be hooked once you try it
Mandi homesteads in northern Missouri with her spouse and their
daughter, where they have a successful small goat dairy farm and a
goat milk skincare business. Mandi is also a Master Gardener and grows
and preserves a lot of her family’s food each year. Wild Oak Farms
believes small farms like theirs can make a big impact.Use code HOMESTEAD to save 15% on your purchase!
SHOP NOW
Meet Shari, who had perfected the art of sourdough and wants to show you how easy you too can enjoy fresh baked sourdough in your own home!
Welcome to The Flouring Home where you can find sourdough, simple & from scratch recipes that are nourishing to your body, mind and soul. We will deep dive into gardening, foraging, harvesting, food preserving methods, hunting, and a little bit of preparedness.
You can almost always find me in the kitchen with a cup of coffee and a chocolate lab, named Duke, at my feet
SHOP NOW
Meet Kim, the owner of The Secret Garden, a small 2-acre organic farm located in the heart of Sonoma County, dedicated to sustainable and seasonal farming. Our botanical salve ingredients are grown with care and respect for the Land, using organic practices that nurture both the earth and the plants. From our vibrant lavender, invigorating rosemary, to soothing chamomile, our farm’s botanicals are harvested at their peak to create small-batch, all-natural healing salves. Each product is lovingly crafted to harness the power of nature’s remedies, offering effective, skin-nourishing solutions that connect you to the seasons and the earth’s natural bounty. We believe in the healing power of nature, and we’re proud to share our handmade salves with you —products that are as natural and unique as the farm they come from.
SHOP NOW
The Garden Goods: Tools Of The Trade
Hey garden friends! Gardening doesn’t have to be complicated or fancy but having the right tools in the garden can really make the task easier and more enjoyable. We’ve compiled a list of our garden must haves that work whether you garden in ground or in containers.
Hori- Hori Knife The Hori Hori is a traditional Japanese gardening tool, also called a gardening knife. It usually has a smooth side and a serrated side. They can be used for all kinds of garden tasks, like cutting cabbages and other thick stems. Along with cutting roots and planting bulbs, just be careful they are very sharp!
Trowel – so handy for digging planting holes, making rows, transplanting and taking out weeds.
Roo/Joey Apron – who doesn’t want hands free harvesting and extra pockets to hold gloves, pruners, you name it!
Pruning Shears or hand shears – For trimming off dead leaves, cutting plants at the soil level once they are finished and cutting flowers. Pro tip: if using them to trim diseased plant matter be sure to sanitize them in between plants to not spread disease.
½ gallon spray bottle – Perfect size for foliar feeding your plants and applying organic pest/fungal controls.
Hat & Gloves – Sun protection, plus who doesn’t love a fun garden hat!
Bonus – Resources like the library, extension office and local garden groups can be a wonderful tool to help not only grow your garden knowledge but to meet fellow gardeners to swap ideas, seeds, and plants.
The Garden Goods: Companion and Succession Planting
Hi Garden Friends and welcome back to the Garden Goods, where we give you garden tips and build your growing confidence!
Have you heard of the terms companion planting and succession planting? Big words, but simple concepts. Let’s break them down.
Companion planting – the planting of certain plants together for a mutual benefit, usually pest control and soil improvement. You can also think of it as maximizing your growing space. If you’ve heard of 3 sisters planting, the Indigenous People’s method of planting corn, beans, and squash together, that is companion planting. The corn provides a trellis for the beans to grow up and the squash trails along the ground smothering the weeds. It’s letting the plants work together in harmony while also protecting and building your soil.
There are many books and theories about which plants “should & shouldn’t” go with other plants. We all garden in different spaces and regions and there is not one perfect answer, except diversity! Mixing in flowers and herbs among your vegetables will help to confuse and repel the insects you don’t want and draw in the pollinators you do. Nature works better together, just like with the 3 sisters method think about which plants could work well together. Pole beans can provide shade to lettuces, while nasturtiums and alyssum can be a great mulch around tomatoes and peppers.
Some of the best plants to mix in are:
Basil – a great companion to tomatoes and peppers, harvest often as the flavor is bitter once it flowers. However, allowing some to flower is a huge magnet for bees and pollinators. Try some new varieties like dwarf Greek, purple, or Thai basil.
Alyssum – a low growing ground cover with shallow roots that won’t compete with other plants. It has beautiful little flowers that pollinators love too.
Marigolds – a classic garden companion plant that comes in so many varieties, a must have in my garden that I love to tuck into all the garden beds. While you may hear that the scent of marigolds keeps bugs away it actually attracts good insects for the garden, like hoverflies and lady bugs that will help get rid of the bugs you don’t want like aphids. Marigolds do release a chemical into the soil that can be detrimental to hatching nematode eggs, nematodes live in the soil and can damage plants by sucking nutrients from roots.
Beans – beans are legumes and nitrogen fixers, meaning they add nitrogen back into the soil after they have died back. For maximum benefit leave the plants until they have died back and then cut ant the base of the plant, leaving the roots and nitrogen in the soil. They are also drought tolerant; I love tucking a few bush beans into an empty garden spot.
Pro Tip:
Keep in mind some plants make better buddies than others. It’s best to place plants together that have similar water and nutrition needs so they aren’t competing for resources.
Succession Planting/Sowing – Planting crops at different times to maximize your harvest and season. What you choose to succession plant will be based on the length of your season and what you like. Before succession planting, ask yourself if you would like to harvest a bunch of this vegetable at one time or have the harvest spread out through my season? For example, you may want to plant a small amount of carrots every few weeks. That way you are able to harvest longer. That would be succession planting. Or you may want to can your green beans and want them all to mature around the same time so you would only plant once.
Like most things in the garden, there is no one answer. Play around and find what works for you and your climate. The ground loves to be covered. Why not plant something else when you take something out? This is also a great time for crop family rotation to replenish the soil. Rotating crop families around the garden can help build back your soil and prevent diseases and pests. For example, if you had heavy feeders like onions or brassicas in a spot, plant beans or peas to add nitrogen back in.
“On the first day of spring, I dig my fingers deep into the soft earth. I can feel its energy, and my spirit’s soar.” Helen Hayes
The Garden Goods: Basics And Benefits Of Gardening
Thinking about gardening, but not sure where to start?
We’re gardeners ourselves and are here to help with our new monthly email series, The Garden Goods.
Each month we will dispel gardening myths while providing tips and tricks to get you started and
building your confidence so you will be growing and gathering before you know it.
This month let’s talk basics and benefits.
The benefits to gardening are tremendous!
Reduced stress levels, increased happiness, self-esteem, and brain boosting are just a few of the many
benefits that gardening can provide you. Did you know there is a healthy bacterium, Mycobacterium
vaccae, that lives in the soil and when exposed to it, it can increase levels of serotonin and reduce
anxiety. Plus who isn’t looking for increased physical activity, better heart health and an improved diet?
A garden can provide all these things and so much more. Even if you think you don’t like vegetables, I
promise when you grow it yourself, it tastes 100 times better than anything in the store.
Myth: I don’t have a green thumb and kill plants
False! Gardening is a skill that can be learned and fine tuned just like anything. We can a green thumb
through the act of gardening, getting in the dirt and learning as we grow!
Myth: I don’t have the space to garden
You don’t need acres of land, a huge yard or even a yard to garden!
There are many ways to garden:
In ground – growing plants directly in the ground. This can be on as large or small as scale you have.
No till – layering compost, organic material on top of the ground. Great option if you don’t want to use
heavy equipment to break up the soil, there is also added benefits to this method (more on this later)
Raised beds – can be made from materials you have or purchased, creates an instant garden, great
option if your native soil isn’t great also if you want to make gardening more accessible.
Container gardening – if it can hold soil, it can be a garden. Containers are great for patios, driveways,
anyplace that you can place a container.
Felt grow bags – these also can be placed just about anywhere and the added benefits to these are you
don’t need to crate drain holes the excess water naturally drains out.
Hydroponic gardening – this is growing plants in a sterile medium such as sponges or clay stones in a
water base. No soil involved. there are many great systems available now from small units that sit on a
counter to larger ones that stand upright and hold many plants.
Now, that we know anyone can be a gardener ask yourself, what does my space look like? How much
time do I want to commit to this? Even if you have two acres to use, do you necessarily want to have
that big of a garden.
My tip would be top start small, gain the confidence and get bigger as you go. Trust me, you will end up
going bigger, us gardeners can’t help it.
Hot Tip:
Remember the most important part to remember, is to just start. The very best way to learn is through
doing, we believe in you!
Stay tuned for next month where we will discuss, setting your garden space up for success, choosing the
right plants and timing.
“The glory of gardening: hands in the dirt, head in the sun, heart with nature. To nurture a garden is to
feed not just the body, but the soul” – Alfred Austin
Please pass along to a friend that may be thinking about gardening too, gardening is even better with a
buddy!
Gift Guide For The Gardener – Under $50
Finding the perfect gifts for the gardeners on your list can be a challenge. Whether they’re a seasoned green thumb or just beginning, this gift guide is full of thoughtful and practical items, all priced under $50. From innovative tools to charming accessories, you can embrace the joy of gifting without breaking the bank, and watch as your loved ones’ gardens flourish with the thoughtful additions from this budget-friendly guide.
Inspire others to live the garden life with our Garden Life Hat.
Available from Roo Gardening
-
6-panel cap
-
Plastic Adjustable Snap
-
Size: OSFM – Adult (58cm/22.8″)
The Joey Apron still has the benefit of our emptying pouch, but with the option of ease by buckling the apron around your waist. Ideal for the Urban gardener, gardeners living in warm climates or with smaller gardening/harvesting needs.
-
3 additional deep storage pockets
-
Water resistant lining
-
Machine washable
-
Extends to 56” around the waist
-
Available in 5 colors
Because you will want to remember your gardening triumphs (and occasional setbacks), A Gardener’s Journal is set up as a 10-year perpetual diary, which you may begin at any time.
In the diary section, one page is given to each day of the year, and each page is divided into 10 sections – more than enough for 10 years of personal jottings. In addition to the diary pages, there is also a section on such gardening techniques as composting, digging garden beds, tree care, soils, and garden tool maintenance, to name but a few. We also provide reference material and numerous charts.
Available from Lee Valley
CANDLE & PLANTER: Enjoy the candle, then use the beautiful terra-cotta container as a plant pot for succulents or small flowers.
Available from Wayfair
Get to gardening with our Roo gardening apron bundle and save. Choose your color of gardening apron, and included is a matching kneeling pad and rust-free aluminum trowel. O/S fits all, machine washable.
Available from Roo Gardening
In Plantopedia, Lauren Camilleri and Sophia Kaplan from Leaf Supply present the definitive guide to keeping happy, healthy houseplants in any space. Featuring:
-
More than 130 plant profiles including foliage plants, succulents and cacti, as well as rarer gems of the plant world.
-
Detailed care information including troubleshooting tips and tricks to ensure that your houseplants thrive.
-
Plants for all levels of indoor gardeners, from budding novices to green thumbs and beyond.
Available from Amazon
Your garden: It would be paradise if stinging critters, itch-causing leaves, and harsh UV rays didn’t diminish the bliss. These nifty sleeves protect your arms from all of the above without so much as a drop of greasy, sticky sunscreen or insect repellant. Their elastic top and bound thumbholes keep them in place even during vigorous weeding and planting sessions, or biking or running sessions, while the sweat-wicking, UPF 50+ poly-spandex fabric cools your skin. Choose funky sunflower or elegant green sleeves in S/M, L/XL, and XXL.
Available from Uncommon Goods
Whether it’s filled with tea, coffee or water, your Plant Lady will love this mug, made especially for her!
Available from Roo Gardening
Get to gardening with our Joey gardening apron bundle and save. Choose your color of gardening apron, and included is a matching kneeling pad and rust-free aluminum trowel.
O/S fits all, machine washable.
Available from Roo Gardening
-
Roo Apron Bundle
$49.95 Select options This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product page
-
Roo Apron Bundle
$49.95 Select options This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product page
-
Roo Apron Bundle
$49.95 Select options This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product page