Organic gardening jobs to do in October

[Annpan]

Sorry for being so cheeky but on the main site there is some month by month suggestions for what to do and I found them quite handy... but they only cover a few months of the year... sooooo... assuming northern hemisphere conditions (sorry Kiwis, Aussies, Egyptians and South Africans but you are out numbered ) what are good things to do in the allotment/ garden in October?

[Wombat]

[Millymollymandy]

I may be a little bit late, but depending on how mild it is I think it is OK to still do now - transplanting strawberry runners.

Keep on top of the weeding.

Tie in raspberry canes of summer fruiting varieties.

Watch the weather forecast and harvest anything that is tender before the frosts come.

[red]

prepare beds etc for new plantings of raspberries
prepare beds for garlic planting

[9ball]

You can sow winter hardy broad beans and peas for an early harvest, and also plant garlic bulbs, overwintering onions and shallots.
Digging beds before winter is handy so the frosts can break up big clods of soil, and you can start compost trenches for next years runners and peas where you dig a trench about a spades depth, fill with the usual kitchen waste and then cover back up with soil.

A helping hand for the slug patrol is also a good idea so piles of wood in the corner are good for frogs and toads to hibernate, and piles of twigs and leaves for hedgehogs - just make sure they don't get set alight for bonfire night :)

Not essential but now the nights are drawing in birds will appreciate bird feeders going out - away from cat leaping distance though.

That's pretty much what I'm doing anyway - looking forwards to seeing more ideas from others though...

[QuakerBear]

Got abit confused there Wombat, I thought that was something you were suggesting I do on my allotment

I'm growing Jerusalem artichokes at the momenet, is now the time to take them up? Should I take them all up? What do I do? I only chucked a couple of tubers in a hole and they appear to have grown.

[Millymollymandy]

Another one for the garden - rake up leaves and put in either plastic garden sacks tied up with a few air holes punched in them, or in a chicken wire bin and leave to rot down for a year or two. Then use gorgeous leaf mould to mulch flower beds or use as potting compost (mixed with a bit of garden compost and mole hill soil).

[godfreyrob]

Got abit confused there Wombat, I thought that was something you were suggesting I do on my allotment

I'm growing Jerusalem artichokes at the momenet, is now the time to take them up? Should I take them all up? What do I do? I only chucked a couple of tubers in a hole and they appear to have grown.

They are tough as old boots so you need not worry about digging them up to protect them. The soil is still relatively warm so they might still put on a little more weight, so worth leaving some in a bit longer.

[Shirley]

Ahhh I was wondering about my JA's. We're further north and have already had frosts etc so I guess that would make a bit of a difference. I've no idea how big ours are - the cows leaned over the fence and ate the leaves so they never grew very tall!

[smile_sunshine]

HDRA has a section on their website i found with monthly advice (they have an archive for other months as well)


http://www.gardenorganic.org.uk/todo_now/index.php

[Cheezy]

Got abit confused there Wombat, I thought that was something you were suggesting I do on my allotment

I'm growing Jerusalem artichokes at the momenet, is now the time to take them up? Should I take them all up? What do I do? I only chucked a couple of tubers in a hole and they appear to have grown.

They are tough as old boots so you need not worry about digging them up to protect them. The soil is still relatively warm so they might still put on a little more weight, so worth leaving some in a bit longer.

BUT when you do take them up make sure you take every single last one, as they will take over otherwise.

Other good jobs, if you've cleared an area, decide what your going to grown next year and depending on the crop either mulch with compost (root crops like carrots and onions)or manure (spuds,brassica's,legumes) or apply lime (brassica's,onions,carrots,. This'll give it time to work into the soil. The reason you differentiate between manure (high nitrogen) and compost is that manure will encourage growth, carrots/parsnps willl fork and onions tend to put on green growth.)

Prepare fruit beds and cages, break up the soil so the frost can kill off pests. Then you should think about ordering bare root plants to put in before the end of the year, as the soil is still a little warm and will help them settle in. (you can put bare root plants in up until end of March.)

Clear all leaves and do a good tidy up. A lot of disease and pests overwinter in leaves and dead vegetation, compost or burn the infected materials. (the ash can then be applied to the soil around fruit trees etc.)