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Monday, October 3, 2011

October in My Garden

With many days of rain this past month, gardening has been about the last thing on my mind. Besides dashing out for a pepper or to check the broccoli, the garden has been rather abandoned.

I see from my September list, that I still have things to do this fall. The late potato plants are still green, I'm still picking the last few tomatoes, and nothing has been tilled under for winter. I told Ed that this is one year that the tomatoes cages will probably stand in the garden until spring.

And at this point, I don't really care.

But maybe it will dry out enough this month to do some garden clean up. It is always nice to leave the garden as a clean slate, ready for spring planting.

October's Garden To-Do List

1. Plant some pansies and spring bulbs.

2. Make compost with the withered garden plants and falling leaves.

3. Plant garlic, if it dries enough to till.

4. Dig potatoes.

5. Trim off the asparagus, manure the bed, and cover with leaves.

6. Plant lettuce and spinach in the hoop house. (Since I kept forgetting to plant seeds, I just started some plants in the house to give them a head start and plan to transplant to the hoop house. If I'm not too late already.)

7. Clean up all garden areas and mulch all the perennial beds with chopped leaves.

What are you doing in your garden this month?

7 comments:

  1. Glad to see I am not the only one overwhelmed. It has been cold and wet here for days, and the last place I want to be is in a sloping wet muddy garden. That said there still is a lot down there to come up to the house before the snow flies.

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  2. Well, we got good produce out of the garden this year. I tend to not plant too much variety unless we are given seed. Still getting lettace, carrots, corn, beans and kale, but the squash is done and will need to be put up next... there may be a few beets left too.

    Actually we spread lots of cow manure this year, so the weeds just took over. I had pneumonia this fall and Mr. D had his hands full with vehicle repair, so the poor garden was neglected. I did manage to weed the herb garden and keep that in good shape, but the rest will be a haven for the chickens in a week or two. There's lots of weeds and bugs for them to feast on.

    Next weekend is supposed to be warm and sunny. I'll be butchering chickens on Saturday, but hope to also get the rest of the veggies picked.

    Have a wonderful week.

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  3. If I get my back flower bed weeded, I'll be happy! It's hard to do anything with just a few minutes here and there, in between Zach's needs. I asked my mother-in-law to watch the baby last night, just so I could cut Derek's hair!

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  4. Unfortunately we didn't have a garden this year, but I'm already planning for next year. Since the soil in our back yard is so rocky and hard, I'm going to try something new...planting in straw bales. It would give me a garden that's a bit elevated and easier to tend, and folks who garden this way really seem to love it. Besides, we're renting the house we're in and I don't think the owner would take kindly to me tilling up part of his back yard!
    I don't blame you for not wanting to get out in the mud and muck in the garden, so don't feel bad about not getting things done out there. You'll get it done eventually and have a nice break until you start up again next spring.
    Have a nice day, and take it easy if you can! :)

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  5. I should do much of those same tasks. I still haven't harvested all of the carrots, cabbage, kale or leeks. We'll eat the last of the corn right from the stalks with little left over for winter. I am expanding my strawberry patch though, and still need to plant the babies into the newly prepared bed. I just feel so "done" with the garden.

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  6. Hi gina,
    well here in south Georgia in my garden I'm picking butterbeans . Planted some garlic but read an article that said don't use the garlic from grocery stores so I'm wondering If I need to go to the seed store and replant have you ever used any store bought garlic? well it'll be interesting to see if it makes. I love your blog and I am hopeing to pick up ingredients to learn to make your homemade bread recipes. I am a stay at home Lolli(grandmother) mother of 3 and just now learning about blogs so I am excited to find yours.I am planning my garden to help feed our family after 20 years of nurses aide in the community .So definetly excited to follow your garden tips each month.
    May you have a Blessed Day.

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  7. I'm laughing over your statement that the tomato cages will have to stay until spring this year- mine stay until spring EVERY year! :-) It's so much easier to deal with a few dried branches than the still-green behemoths some of them have become in the fall. But who am I kidding? It's just because I don't want to spend the time doing that now. Let go what you can and move on, I say! :-)

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