Willie
Vegetable &
Fruit October Growing Guide
October is really the last of the hectic months on the vegetable plot.
There's little to sow and plant but still a fair amount to harvest and store
away to eat through winter. This is the month when the first frosts usually
arrive so killing off all but the hardy plants.
Sowing &
Planting in October on the Vegetable Plot
Over-wintered
broad beans can go in from the middle of the month to provide an early crop
next year. Whilst they're very hardy, they don't like sitting in water so on
heavy soils they can be a gamble and you may prefer to just sow early on next
year. The last sowing of beet leaf spinach can be made early in the month and
you may be able to just fit in some Chinese cabbage. October is the last chance for planting out Japanese onion sets. These
are hardy, short-daylight onions so will bulb up about a month earlier next
year than the normal onions but they don't store as well so go for a smaller
quantity rather than larger. It's worth protecting them with a cloche or
netting until well established as they hold a magnetic attraction for pigeons
who seem to delight in pulling them from the ground and throwing them to the
side. You can plant out garlic in October but generally it's a November job.
However, if the weather turns nasty then you'll have one less task to do
outside.
General Garden
Tasks for October
There's not a lot to do except for keeping weeds in check with the
established crops. If you've got Brussels sprouts it's worth checking they're
firm in the ground as wind-rock breaks the tiny hairs on the roots that take in
the nutrients. Earthing up a few cm around the stems and treading in or staking
should be enough. In very windy areas a wind break can save the day.
If the leaves
are looking a little yellow, apply a high nitrogen liquid feed around each
plant and this should perk them up enough to ensure good firm sprouts for
Christmas. With other brassicas, remove any yellowed leaves as they are of no
use to the plant and will encourage botrytis to develop.
If you've a
green manure crop like mustard mature, now is the time to dig it in. Generally
find mustard produces a lot of foliage which can be cut with shears about a
30cm off the ground. Compost the cut foliage and dig in the rest.
As ground
becomes vacant, you can dig it over, with heavy clay soils just leave the clods
unbroken and the freezing / thawing action of winter weather will break them
up, giving you a fine tilt to work with in the spring. Spread manure or compost
over the surface and leave for the worms to drag down into the ground or lime
if appropriate.
October and
November are good months for serious digging. The deeper the fertile soil, the
better crops that can be had. Double digging where you remove a trench and then
break up the sub-soil with a fork prior to adding a good layer of manure or
compost and then place the soil from the next trench on top will greatly
improve your soil. With light deep
soils that don't benefit from annual digging, sow a green manure like field
beans that will hold the nutrients in the soil over winter until spring when
you dig them in to add both humus and nutrients.
Now is the
time to concentrate on your compost making. The last of the bulk foliage should
be available to build a proper heap rather than a waste pile. Emptying one bin
into another, layering with lime and nitrogen rich manure as it builds, will
ensure decomposition gets off to a good start.
Consider
where you intend to plant your runner beans and start a bean trench, digging it
out and lining with newspapers (six sheets thick) before adding compostable
kitchen waste, lawn clippings etc. and covering with soil.
Fruit
This is a
good month to prune your blackcurrants, redcurrants and gooseberries. Your
raspberries and blackberries need cutting back, tying in etc. and these early
winter months are ideal for planting out new stock. Make sure the ground is
well prepared and add a good 500gr of bone meal per plant to the base of the
planting hole, forked in. This will slowly release its nitrogen over the next
year or two giving stronger plants earlier
October Greenhouse
Tasks
If you've still got crops, open the vents on fine days to avoid
developing a muggy atmosphere which encourages fungal diseases. As tomatoes
etc. finish, clear them out and wash any old pots etc. before putting them
away. If you can, give
the house a good clean with a little detergent and disinfectant and a scrubbing
brush. Clean glass will allow more light through in the dark days and cleaning
the frame will remove pests looking for a good spot to over-winter. Once clean
you can insulate it. Bubble wrap is good or heat sheets will do the job. Sow a
hardy lettuce like Arctic King and grow in your greenhouse border to give you a
salad whatever the weather.
Harvest
Any remaining main crop potatoes should be ready. When the haulm (leaves)
starts dying back you cut it off and leave the potatoes for a couple of weeks.
This will make the skins set and hopefully prevent any stray blight spores from
the haulm infecting your tubers. Wait for a sunny dry day and dig up the
potatoes, brushing off excess soil and letting them dry off before storing in
hessian or paper sacks in a frost free, dark shed.
The last of
the beans should be picked now, compost the foliage but leaving the roots with
their nitrogen full nodules in the soil will act as a fertiliser.
Main crop
carrots should be dug up to be stored in sand or peat through the winter but
leave the parsnips in the ground as they'll be sweeter after a frost.
Drumhead
cabbages that are ready should be harvested. They'll keep remarkably well in a
frost-free shed but be aware that a slug that may be lurking under the leaves.
Sprinkling the outside with salt will deter them from eating away through the
winter.
