Seasonal calendar
What to do this month.
Some things only work at one point in the year. Prune an apple tree in July and you lose next year's fruit; sow a courgette in March and the frost takes it. This is what is worth doing now, and what to leave alone.
UK timings throughout. Everything here runs a few weeks earlier in the south and later in Scotland — treat the month as a guide and the weather as the authority.
Septemberthis month
The best foraging month of the year, and the beginning of putting things away.
- Forage
Gather elderberries, rosehips and sloes
All easy to identify with no lethal lookalikes. Sloes are better after the first frost, or a night in the freezer.
How to do it → - Garden
Pick apples at the right moment
Lift and twist gently. If it comes away with the stalk attached it is ready; if you have to pull, wait.
How to do it → Pickle the surplus
Vinegar pickling takes twenty minutes and turns a September glut into something you eat in February.
How to do it →