October on the Allotment

October on the Allotment – What should we do this month?

There has been a noticeable change in the weather as October arrives. The big advantage of this is that it is more comfortable to sleep at nights but, of course it is dark earlier in the evenings and in the mornings, it is still quite gloomy until 7.30 or 8.00. It is only two and half months until the shortest day so our days will appear to shorten very quickly now. British Summer Time (BST) will end officially in October. So, our clocks will go back an hour at 2am on Sunday, October 27, 2013, when BST ends and the country reverts to Greenwich Mean Time (GMT).

There are still lots to do on our plots this month.

Maintenance

Ø  As crops finish their harvest, remove the spent plants and compost them;

Ø  Keep winter crops – brassicas, leeks, parsnips, etc, clear of weeds and watch out for pests like white fly on the brassicas;

Ø  Keep perennial crops, asparagus, globe artichokes and fruit bushes, canes and trees free from weeds;

Ø  Keep paths and edges tidy and cut back to prevent perennial invading the plot  - the grass and weeds are still growing, especially in the south of the country [and you neighbours’ plots];

Ø  Drying beans eg. Borlotto, Yin-yang, Jack Edwards, etc. [if you have grown dwarf beans, it is important to harvest them before they rot or are harvested by mice], should be ready to harvest as they have almost dried well on the vines. – you will probably need to pod and dry them thoroughly before storing. Lift the canes, clean them and store them where the canes or their ends are not sitting in wet conditions, which will rot them. Carefully looked after they should last for several years;

Ø  Crops in poly-tunnels and greenhouses may still be ripening for a few weeks unless it becomes very cold so, make sure you keep the plants well watered and free from pests.

Ø  As you finish using tools, cloches and netting, ensure they are clean and store in a safe and dry environment;

Ø  If you have netting over fruit cages, it is advisable to remove it before winter – particularly on the ‘roof’ as the weight of winter snow can collapse your cage;

Ø  Cut back established asparagus beds as the ferns turn yellow;

Ø  Clear away and compost dead rhubarb leaves. This is a good time to rejuvenate mature rhubarb clumps – dig up the crowns and split them. Replants the strongest pieces. An uncle of mine, who was an excellent gardener, advised me to ‘throw the rhubarb crowns at the back of the manure heap for the winter to let the frost at them, then plant them in the spring’. I haven’t found it necessary to do this often but, when I have tried it, I have found it has given me strong healthy plants. Discard any small pieces and plant the best ones. Don’t did up all of you old rhubarb plants in one year or you will have nothing to harvest the following year – the plants should be allowed to establish for a year before harvesting.

Ø  Cut back and cover globe artichoke plants before frost becomes severe. It is recommended that they should be covered with straw but, on an exposed site, your straw may blow away – environmesh or plant fleece will make good substitutes but, don’t allow the fabric to rest on the plants.

Ø  Put glue bands around the trunks of fruit trees, especially apple trees to capture moths which can damage the crop in the following season.

Preparation and Planning

Ø  As summer cropping plants finish their harvest, clear the areas of plants and perennial weeds then, start digging, especially if you have a large plot to dig. You may find that there will be fresh weed growth before the winter but it is better than leaving the digging until the spring. On heavy clay soil particularly, the difference between autumn dug and spring dug ground is significant;

Ø  Prepare beds for autumn planting perennial crops, fruit trees, bushes and canes;

Ø  Prepare ground for autumn plants onion, garlic and shallot sets and broad beans;

Ø  Now is the time to order or buy garlic, shallot and onion sets.

Ø  Asparagus can be planted in autumn and I see that Dobies [of Devon] is advertising asparagus crowns in 3 litre pots which can [they say] be harvested the following year. Although they seem expensive if bought individually, they have deals of buying in groups which just about makes this a feasible proposition – why not try them in large ‘grow sacks’… like potato grow sacks in your back yard. I haven’t tried this so, I can’t say how successful it would be.

Many of the large seed house are sending out their autumn catalogues now. Write to them to request a catalogue or find them on-line – see our website for contact details.

Sowing and Planting

§  Spring cabbages can still be planted into their final growing place – as with salad crops, it is important to protect them from the plethora of pests which will destroy them long before you can usefully harvest them. I have found it useful to plant some in my poly-tunnel once the summer crops have finished [a while to go yet!] but this will give me a welcome crop of green vegetables in springtime when little else is available.

§  Set up new strawberry beds with rooted runners or with new plants. Tidy established beds of dead leaves.

Harvesting

Ø  Winter squashes and pumpkins are now maturing and should be harvested and stored in a cool dry place before the frost starts as this will rot them. I have had some which have kept until May of the following year but, only a few. Check them regularly throughout the winter and remove any which show signs of rotting;

Ø  Tomatoes peppers and chillies are reaching the end of their growing season. They can be hung up in a dry place [the greenhouse or ploy tunnel is fine as long as it is not too damp to allow as many as possible of the fruits to mature]. Thin skinned chillies will continue to ripen and dry for some time, even in a warm kitchen if hung up in strings. Storing tomatoes or peppers can be done by freezing, or in preserves;

Ø  Potatoes – lift main-crop potatoes as the top growth dies back [of course you can continue to lift them at any time for eating straightaway]. The potatoes should be dry before storing in paper or hessian sacks in a cool, dry, dark place. You can lift them and leave them on the ground for a couple of days in dry weather to allow the skins to dry off. Avoid leaving them out for longer as the potatoes will turn green – green potatoes are poisonous! Check for damaged potatoes and store only those tubers which are healthy;

Ø  Main-crop carrots should be harvested and healthy, undamaged roots can be stored;

Ø  Brassicas – some varieties of Brussels Sprouts, broccoli/calabrese and late cabbage are available now. Early kale can be harvested but may be best left until winter;

Ø  Early leeks are harvestable now;

Ø  Salad crops, of course are still excellent where we have managed to keep the pests off.

Ø  Fruit – autumn harvesting raspberries are still available;

-          Apples, depending on the variety should be harvested – if they come easily from the stem they should be ready and can be stored. If you allow them to fall, the resultant bruising will mean that they must be used immediately. Check also for insect damage – those fruits also must be used immediately or discarded.

Our birds can also look forward [do they do this?] to a short time of not raising broods but, for them winter can be a harsh time so, do think about feeding them and providing water for them during the cold months.