September 2025 E-Magazine
- Jane Shellenberger
- Aug 29
- 3 min read
Updated: Aug 31
Editor’s Letter
As always, just as I’d given up on watering to keep everything alive in the heat, the rains came. The big cube where I catch and dispurse runoff from the barn roof had been empty for months but it filled up in a day. I’ve already harvested most of the veggie garden and have been waiting for cooler temps to plant beets and greens for a fall crop. The grasshoppers have arrived, much later here than in Denver from what I understand.
So far they are mostly in the perennial beds. The big datura (above) by the back door was stripped bare overnight, but, as it turned out, by two fat hornworms (which will become sphinx moths). It’s already leafing out again. Everything is perking up now with the moisture.
Hummingbirds are visiting the agastaches and salvias, and I have a crowded, small forest of native sunflowers out back, all volunteers. I left them for the finches and the bees, and for reseeding next year.
My biggest and most pleasant surprise has been the asparagus which continues to produce 3-5 spears each day amidst all the ferny foliage. Right after the big rain this week there were 10 new spears. Who knew they would keep going so long?
For this issue humor writer John Hershey has written about making his peace with grasshoppers. The title won’t make sense if you’re too young to remember the Dr Strangelove movie with Peter Sellers, but that shouldn’t matter.
In his September Garden Q&A, Keith Funk covers when to plant spring-blooming bulbs, planting vegetables for a fall harvest, deadheading, and fall blooming perennials.
Fall is the best time to add compost and other soil amendments to the veggie garden for a great start next spring. I’ll cover that (no pun intended) next month.
Enjoy this cooler September & your harvest,
Jane Shellenberger
Garden Strangelove
or
How I learned to stop worrying and love grasshoppers
By John Hershey
In the hard-charging workplaces of America, a popular motivational mantra is “Failure is not an option.”
At least it was back when I was in that world. One reason I’m not there anymore is that in my experience, that motto is not true at all. For me, failure was not only an option, it felt like a constant looming daily possibility. So I decamped as soon as I could for the less judgmental field of self-employment.
The field I really wanted to be in, though, was the one behind my house: the garden. Now, at 60, even though I am way too young (and way, way too financially insecure) to retire, I have the freedom to spend a lot of time there.
I love gardening because it’s so different from the workplace. In the garden failure actually is not an option. Not in the corporate sense that we have to work really hard to ensure success. But because no matter what happens, it is just not possible to fail in a garden.
Here's what I mean. Last year, grasshoppers obliterated my garden, consuming everything except the tomato foliage.
By Keith Funk
Q: Is it too early to plant spring-blooming bulbs such as tulips, daffodils, and crocus? Or do I need to wait for cooler weather?
A: It’s not too early to plant spring flowering bulbs. You don’t need to wait for cooler weather or for the soil temperature to cool off. The bulbs planted in previous years have been in the ground all summer and are just fine. I prefer to buy my bulbs as early as possible and get them into the ground where it’s nice and cool compared to the temperatures above ground. Water them in well, and monthly through the winter for the best spring show. If you can’t plant right away, store the bulbs in the coolest part of the house. NOT the garage. It gets way too warm there.
Gardening Events
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