In your vegetable garden in October

Pumpkins, drying beans, early leeks and Brussels sprouts are just some of the crops coming out of the vegetable garden now. Despite the autumnal feel, don’t forget that you can still be sowing and planting. For some, pumpkins mean Hallowe’en and lanterns; don’t miss the pumpkin scooping sessions at Ryton from the 24-28 October. To others, pumpkins are the basis for a whole host of tasty dishes over the winter from this easy to store vegetable - soups, stews and currys, as well as the sweet pumpkin pie.

• Save money by keeping leftover seed for use next season. Most vegetable seed should last at least a couple of years, with the exception of parsnip, and some can last much longer. Store opened packets in a glass jar or plastic box in a cool, dry place. If you are unsure of the viability  of the seed, do a mini germination test on a piece of damp kitchen paper in a plastic box.
• Save tomato seed- Click the link to find out how easy this is to do
• Continue to water winter crops where the weather has been dry. Some areas are still very short of rainfall and soils are still very dry.
• Pick up and pick off dead and yellowing leaves from winter brassicas. This helps to remove whitefly and reduces places for slugs to lurk. Put the leaves straight on the compost heap.
• Cut down and compost crop remains. Tough items like sweet corn stems are best chopped up or shredded first.
• To help you plan your veg growing for next year, make a note of what has been growing where in your garden or plot.
• If you want to know more about planning your vegetable garden for best returns, why not book a place on one of Pauline Pears’ ‘Planning Your Organic Vegetable Garden’ courses in November.
• Plant rhubarb sets in October-November.
• From this month onwards, Check stored crops and remove anything showing signs of rot or damage to prevent spread to healthy material.
• Dig up the last remaining outdoor tomatoes and hang the plants upside down somewhere warm and light for the fruits to ripen.
• Ripen the last of your squashes and pumpkins in the sun before taking them in to store. Stored in a cool, airy location, well-ripened pumpkins can keep for 12 months or so.
•  Self blanching celery types are less hardy and may need to be covered to protect them from the frost or harvested at this point.
• Earth up non-self blanching celery for the last time if not done last month, leaving just the tops sticking out. If frost is forecast cover the tops with fleece or cardboard to stop them rotting.
• Chicory and seakale can be forced to provide you with leaves for the winter. ’Forcing’ chicory improves the flavour by reducing the bitterness. Place  an upturned plant pot over each plant,  covering the hole to exclude any light. Make sure that the plants are dry before you cover them.

Soil works

• Aim to avoid leaving ground bare if you possibly can. Protecting the soil over winter is the best thing you can do for it.
• Your last chance to sow green manures. Field beans are the only reliable option for this time of year, though you may get results from grazing rye in milder areas.
• Mulch soil with leafmould made from autumn leaves from last year. This is particularly beneficial where carrots or parsnips will be sown next year.
• Autumn is the best time to lime your soil. Organic gardeners use dolomite limestone, which is slowly broken down in the soil. Apply it to where you plan to grow brassica family crops next year, or the year after if your soil is very acid, as the full effect can take a couple of years to show up. Never lime soil before growing potatoes.
• If you are thinking about liming the soil, test the pH (acidity) of the soil first. Too much lime upsets the balance of the soil and can make it unsuitable for vegetable growing. For general veg growing, a pH of around 6.5 is fine, though the cabbage family will thrive in soils with a slightly higher pH. You can buy a pH test kit or meter from The Organic Gardening Catalogue.
• Our factsheet gives more information about effective soil testing.

Compost trench

• Start a winter compost trench: Dig a trench – or a hole – a spade deep and wide. Fill this with kitchen scraps as they come available, covering each addition with some soil.  When the trench is full, replace any remaining soil. Next season, grow moisture-loving crops such as runner beans or pumpkins on the site.
• Insulate your worm bin with bubble wrap, or move it into a warmer spot, such as a porch or greenhouse. This will help to keep the worms working well over winter.

• Storing the harvest

  October is a busy month for lifting and storing your harvest. Pay careful attention to weather reports concerning the first frosts, as this can easily ruin all your hard work put in during the summer. Runner beans, carrots, beetroot, pumpkins and winter squashes, amongst others, are all ready to be harvested, stored or preserved.

  See our factsheet on Storing the harvest
  
  Access to factsheets requires members' password. Find out more about Garden Organic membership here.

  Storing sweetcorn

  
  Eat within minutes of picking
  For those who sowed sweetcorn late, early October is the last chance to harvest. Eaten within a few minutes of picking, homegrown sweetcorn is unrivalled by anything you will buy. Each plant produces anything from one to four cobs.
  • The cobs are ready to harvest when 'silks' wither and turn brown.
  • To test the ripeness, peel back the leaves and push your thumbnail into a grain. One of the following will apply:
    1. Unripe: if the liquid runs clear.
    2. Ripe: if the liquid is milky.
    3. Over-mature: the liquid will be thick and the cob will be unsuitable for eating. Can be frozen or pickled.

Sowing and Planting

• Keep on sowing

  
  Garlic

  Garlic	Buy garlic for planting in October or early November.  ‘Vallelado’ is suitable for autumn and early winter planting; ‘Flavour’ for late winter and early spring planting.  To avoid the risk of introducing diseases, don’t use cloves bought from the greengrocer. Planting a named variety  ensures you are growing a variety suited to the UK.
  Onions	Autumn onion sets, such as Radar and Electric Red can be planted now
  Land cress	Also known as American land cress. Makes an excellent substitute for watercress and is very hardy, usually surviving even the toughest winter.
  Chinese leaves	There is a great choice of oriental salads to sow now to give a supply of salad or stir-fry leaves over the autumn and winter. Some (marked* below) are best with some protection, and all will crop more generously under cover. If you are not sure what you like, try Oriental Saldini - a mixture of various greens. Green in Snow, Mizuna Greens*, Mibuna Greens*, Giant Red Mustard*, Indian mustard, Komatsuna*, Pak choi*.
  Lamb's lettuce	Also called corn salad, very hardy winter salad with a soft texture and mild flavour. Lasts well throughout the winter, and when it flowers next spring the flowers can be eaten too.
  Winter lettuce	Slower and less reliable perhaps than the salads listed above. Use a winter variety such as Rouge d'Hiver, Winter Density or Winter Crop, for harvesting in November and December.
  Winter purslane	Goes by the additional names of claytonia and miner's lettuce. Another very hardy winter salad, good at self-seeding. Produces small, mild tasting, succulent leaves. Sow in unheated greenhouse/polytunnel.
  Broad bean	Sow Super Aquadulce, Aquadulce Claudia and Imperial Green Longpod towards the end of the month. The Sutton can be grown under cloches.
  Peas	Round seeded peas can be grown from October/November sowings. An organic variety is the Douce Provence. Other varieties include Feltham First, Meteor or Pilot (probably the hardiest of all varieties).
  Spring cabbages	Cabbages that were sown last month are probably ready for planting out now. Cover with enviromesh to prevent the pigeons from nibbling at them.

  

  All the above are available from The Organic Gardening Catalogue
  Online at: www.OrganicCatalogue.com

• What you could be eating now - if you remembered to sow it and if the weather has been kind.

  Artichoke, Jerusalem Beetroot Brussels sprouts - early Cabbage - summer and autumn Chinese cabbage Calabrese Cauliflower - autumn Carrots Celeriac Celery Chillis Chicory Corn salad Endive Florence Fennel Garlic Green in the snow Hamburg parsley Kohl rabi Komatsuna Leaf beet Leek

  Lettuce Marrow Melon Mizuna Mibuna Onions Onions, salad Oriental mustards Parsley Parsnip Peas Peppers Potatoes Pumpkin Rocket Salsify Spinach Tomatoes Turnip (main crop) Sea kale beet Squash Sweet corn Watercress

Pest and Disease Watch

• Keep on top of brassica pests on winter cabbages, broccoli, kale and Brussels sprouts.
• Remove yellowing leaves from winter brassicas. These are not needed by the plants and will only encourage fungal diseases such as grey mould and botrytis to invade your crops.
• Check that bird netting is still in place. As the season progresses, pigeons are even more likely to take a fancy to your Brussels and broccoli.
• Brassica whitefly can build up over the summer and survive the winter on Brussels sprouts, broccoli, winter cabbage and kale. The tiny, white creatures fly up in clouds when the plants are disturbed. The sticky honeydew they produce often encourages black ‘sooty’ moulds to grow on the leaves. Pick off infested lower leave; the young whitefly ‘scales’ live underneath these leaves. Spray with insecticidal soap if the infestation is bad. Spray both sides of the leaves, repeating two or three times at intervals if necessary.
• Mealy cabbage aphids can also be build up on winter brassica crops.
• Leek rust, a fungal disease,  Forms red/orange pustules  on the leaves and stems. In a mild autumn the disease may continue to develop turning leaves yellow and resulting in reduction of plant size. Click here to go to Garden Organic’s factsheet on Leek rust.

• Leek moth - Mainly a pest of leeks and onions, the caterpillars of leek moth feed within the leaves. Whitish brown patches develop and older caterpillars tunnel down into the stem and bulb causing extensive damage.
  For information and control, Garden Organic members can refer to our Leek Moth factsheet.
  
  Access to factsheets requires members' password. Find out more about Garden Organic membership here.
• Keep track of your crop rotation to prevent a build-up of pests and diseases.
  Garden Organic members can view our factsheet on crop rotation.
  
  Access to factsheets requires members' password. Find out more about Garden Organic membership here.
• Keep an eye on your stored vegetables. Mice looking for places to hibernate can do lots of damage to your precious stores.

back to - What to do in your garden now

Bookmark this page on:

StumbleUpon | Delicious | Reddit | Digg | Facebook

Top of page | Home | Privacy | Contact | Advertise | Support us

All content © Garden Organic  |  Registered Charity No 298104

Garden Organic is the working name of the Henry Doubleday Research Association (HDRA).
We are not responsible for the content of external web sites.

Supported by