Hard to believe it’s October. Hayrides, Halloween, trick or treating and more is what this month is all about. Here are some of the things that you should do in your garden.
- Send a soil sample to get tested. Then add any kind of amendments to the soil as recommended.
- Clean up the garden beds, removing any material from dead plants. Use the garden debris that is disease free to begin your new compost pile. Purchase or construct a bin for compost if you don’t have one already.
- Rake any of the fallen leaves from the garden and lawn. These can be composted too. Simply shred the leaves first to make decomposition easier.
- Once the weather’s cooler, plant new shrubs and trees that you want for next year. Make sure they’re watered well until your ground has frozen through because then the water won’t be seeping down to the roots.
- Plant your annuals that are cool season.
- Cover the fall flowers such as asters and mums on the nights when frost is forecast. This is going to extend the blooming season. It will also make sure they don’t die early.
- Save some seeds from the successful varietals of the season. Harvest them and then dry them. Once they’re dry, put them into an envelope. Write the name of the plant and the year on the envelope before you put your envelope into a container that is airtight. Store the container in a dark, cool, and dry location.
- Harvest & preserve the herbs to use in cooking. You can freeze them or dry them.
- Remove any of the green tomatoes that remain on the tomato plants.
- Harvest and preserve herbs for cooking. They can be either dried or frozen.
- Once the vines have died back or prior to a bad, hard freeze, harvest winter squash. It’s ready to be picked when the rind’s hard enough so you can’t penetrate it using your fingernail.
- Continue picking cool-season crops anytime they’re ready. When you don’t keep on top of it, it can slow the plants down early.
There you go! Enjoy the fun this month brings!
