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| Early October edible garden is in full bloom |
Saturday, September 28, 2024
Gardening in October is refreshing, like the weather. Pests are fading fast as the weather cools. The sun shines brightly to take the chill off the cool days. The summer vegetables like tomatoes, eggplant, peppers, basil and okra continue to produce at a reduced pace. The cool season crops like lettuce, carrots, radishes, peas, cabbage, beets, broccoli and cauliflower are coming into maturity throughout October and into November. Flowers, bees and butterflies are abundant in the fall garden.
Now is the last call to save seeds from your favorite fruits and veggie plants if you haven't done so already. The plants still producing well this time of year are great ones to make sure you have some seeds to plant again next year. The varieties that do well in your garden conditions are ones you want to invite back! Just be sure to not save seed from any plants that are diseased as this can bring the disease back into your garden in the spring. Seed saving-fun, easy and a cost saver
Basil will turn black when it gets close to 35 degrees. I pull all the leaves when it is forecasted to get close to freezing or any chance of frost. You can chop basil, put in an ice cube tray and cover with water to then use any time your recipe calls for fresh basil. It stores best when frozen in water. I also dry some to add to my "Herbes de Provence" seasoning mix. Most of my harvest I make into pesto and place in freezer bags with just enough for a meal. Gives a whole new meaning to “fast food.” Pesto is great over pasta, fish, or as a condiment on sandwiches. Basil will root from cuttings if you want to bring it in for the winter. Basil basics-harvesting, preserving, growing basil...
The bees just love basil flowers! Bees favorite flowers are those with small flowers like basil. The purple holy basil flowers mixed with the white sweet basil flowers are quite pretty, too, as well as very fragrant. If you want to keep the stems from getting woody on these types of basil, keep the flowers pinched back. I always have Cardinal basil as well in my garden. The leaves are great in pesto, the flowers are showy, and they don't get woody stems like traditional sweet basil does.
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| Bee on basil flower |
Other herbs will do just fine through frosts like parsley, rosemary, thyme, chives, tarragon, winter savory, and sage. It takes good snow cover to stop these herbs. Many winters you can harvest these herbs the entire season for cooking. Cut back the extra now, dry and make into seasoning mixes which you can give to the whole family at Christmas. Make your own "Herbes de Provence"
I will wait until it gets below 32 degrees before I strip off the eggplant, peppers and tomatoes. You can freeze or dry these veggies. Tomatoes are a high acid fruit so you can also easily can sauce from them without using a pressure canner; a stockpot is all that is needed. Preserving the tomato harvest Be sure to follow any canning recipes exactly so your canned goods don’t spoil.
For more on preserving your extras for year round use, see
Peppers, tomatoes, and eggplants are tropical perennials that can be brought in to overwinter. If you have a favorite plant you would love to have in your garden next season, bring it in to an attached garage or even your living room. I have successfully overwintered hot peppers, dwarf tomatoes and a few eggplants. You get a serious jump start on the season in the spring if they over winter. I am bringing in my tiny hot pepper plant Chipetlin to overwinter for the seventh year, my Jigsaw pepper and Tumbling Tom tomato plants for their second year. I'll also have indoor basil as they volunteer in the tropical plants I bring in every fall.
There are several herbs that can be brought indoors as well. Basil and chives are great ones to grow indoors in a sunny window since they loses so much flavor when dried and they are easy to grow indoors. Growing herbs indoors for winter
Make sure you pull the tomatoes from the vine before the vine dies. Wondering what to do with the green tomatoes? You have a couple of options. You can make fried green tomatoes-yum! Just use some fish fry seasoning; we like Andy’s Cajun Seasoning. A late fall tradition-fried green tomatoes! You can also wrap green tomatoes in newspaper and store in a cool, dark location and many will ripen. Check about weekly to cull any that spoil. They won’t taste as good as fresh off the vine, but are better than store bought. I have had tomatoes this way into February.
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| Potted tomatoes first of November |
As the vines die back and the fruit loses its sheen, it is time to harvest winter squash. Winter squash include the well known pumpkins, butternut squash, acorn squash and spaghetti squash among many others. Be sure to leave at least a couple of inches of the stem and place in a warm sunny spot for the skin to harden. Many winter squashes will keep until next year. I have had butternut and Trombetta squash last until the next summer. Harvesting winter squash
October and November is garlic and shallot planting month for the Zone 7 garden! Plant in the waning cycle of the moon. Garlic and shallots loves loose, well-fertilized soil. Loosen the soil down to about 6 inches, mix in a couple of inches of compost, and plant your cloves about 2-3” deep. Time to plant garlic! With growing tips...... Garlic and shallot leaves are one of the first greens you will see in spring. Don't be surprised to see them sprout this winter.
Now is also a great time to divide any perennials you have, whether they be herbs, edibles or ornamentals. This will give them all fall and winter to put down strong roots. Perennial greens (like chard, sorrel, cultivated dandelions, salad burnet) are always the first up in the spring. This is the perfect time to plant any perennial plant. The fall and winter allows the plants roots to grow deep, preparing it for a fast start in the spring. Perennial veggies in the Midwest garden
It is still not too late in early October to transplant fall crops like cold hardy types of lettuce, cabbage, chard, pak choi, broccoli, kale, parsley or perennial herb plants. You can check your neighborhood nurseries for bedding plants. I use my Aerogarden or just a pot on the covered patio to start from seed cold hardy crops I want in my fall and winter garden. Starting them indoors gets them going quicker. With less sun and cooler temps outdoors, plants grow more slowly so getting bedding plants or starting indoors gets your fall veggies to full size quicker. Add about 2 weeks to the "Days to Harvest" timing for fall planted edibles.
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| Cloches and portable row cover |
To extend the season, you can order a mini greenhouse to cover your pots or the part of the garden you have planted your cold hardy greens you want to harvest all winter. You can also purchase row covers that cover plants and provides protection from frosts, but not hard freezes. Adding mulch is a good winter blanket for cool season crops. Preparing the garden for frost
Winter hardy kale, spinach, Austrian peas, carrots and winter onions don’t need to be covered and can be harvested all winter (as long as the ground isn’t too frozen) and into spring. I grow Austrian peas over winter and they provide greens for salad all winter long. They have very pretty flowers, too. Come spring I have lots of early peas too.
I’ll put our portable, plastic mini greenhouse over the greens in my Earthbox self watering pots sometime this month or next. One watchout with green houses-they get very, very hot in sunny weather so be sure to open them to allow circulation in fall and early winter. They will need to be closed up when winter really sets in December or January sometime.
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| Portable greenhouse over pots |
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