October
In The Vegetable Garden This October
Harvest pumpkins and squashes before the first frosts. They quickly turn mushy if left outside.
Finish harvesting peas and beans. When they’ve finished cropping simply cut the plant away at ground level, leaving the roots in the soil.
If you plan to grow peas and beans next year, start preparing the site by digging trenches and filling with manure.
Cut back yellowing asparagus foliage to within 5cm of the ground.
When you harvest your cabbages, leave the root in the ground and make a cut across them stem to encourage a flush of smaller leaves.
Reuse old grow bags by cutting away the top and sowing late salad crops. Cropping can be extended into winter if grown under glass, cloches or inside polytunnels.
Protect autumn cauliflower heads, like ‘white step’ F1 hybrid, from frost by wrapping the outer leaves around them and securing them with string. Alternativiely use a cloche or fleece.
Top Tip:
Hang and tomato plants and pepper plants with green fruits upside down indoors to ripen.
This Month's Key Tips
- Clear up fallen autumn leaves on a regular basis.
- Cut back perennials that have dies down.
- Harvest fruit trees - apple and pears.
- Move tender plants into the greenhouse for winter.
- Renovate old lawns or create new grass areas by laying turf.
