October 2018

Vegetable Gardening in October

 

  • The last of the large peppers in the greenhouse will be removed this week and stored in the basement to ripen, should take a couple of weeks.
  • Currently we are picking the end of the second crop of figs on our Desert King tree, fall raspberries, the final scarlet runner beans, an odd cucumber and zucchini.  The tomatillos are just finishing as well. Tomatoes under cover are OK, but the bigger ones have been picked and are in the basement to ripen slowly.
  • I have Austrian Winter Peas planted which is an all winter cover crop.  They are seeded very close together and provide a mat of pea sprouts for salads.  The chicory plants are still going strong, like giant lettuce heads. Good, but a bitter.  Parsnips have planted themselves again and a crop is coming up. I will use these while small as salad greens as those coming up now will go to seed in the spring.  
  • Will start mulching the beets and carrots so they won’t freeze.
  • Kohlrabi that didn’t fill out very well over the summer have filled out well now since it is cooler.
  • Raspberries have old plants cleaned out and the giant stalks are tied down to the top wire.  Currently producing but slowly.
  • Time to get ready to plant your garlic, we will do so in the next couple of weeks.  Plant them 5 inches apart with about an inch or so of soil on top. Then mulch with leaves.
  • Walla walla starts and seedlings from seed planted in October are looking good so there is hope for a good early crop.
  • Transplanted some Witches tongue lettuce that had been seeded earlier and is about 2 inches tall.  It will come along a ways and will be really good early in the spring.
  • The broccoli planted from starts in September is growing strongly.  Not sure if the fall broccoli will produce heads as haven’t tried it before.  However the sprouting broccoli for the spring is tall and looks good.
  • Still harvesting the later crop of cabbage.  One of the cabbage stalks that I harvested a head off earlier has five small heads on it now.  Cabbage is amazing.
  • Hope to get seaweed again this fall and get it on all the beds, will spread between fall crop plants as well on open spaces.  Then put leaves on top. At least that is the plan.

Posted in Linda's Garden Chat