Tasks for October
The kitchen garden
With World Food Day being celebrated on 16 October, now’s the time to think about your kitchen garden. Growing your own vegetables and salad crops will give you the peace of mind that chemicals and sprays have not been used. Vegetables are tastier and more tender if grown quickly, so dig in generous amounts of compost to encourage strong, healthy growth and to retain moisture.
Most vegetables require regular watering. Where water restrictions are in place, conserve moisture by covering any exposed soil between vegetables with a deep layer of mulch such as coarse compost, bark chips or straw.
Feed kitchen garden plants with a liquid fertiliser such as Nitrosol, or with Margaret Roberts Supercharger, an organic fertiliser that helps plants to build up a resistance to disease and encourages strong, healthy growth.
What to plant now
Bush and runner beans, beetroot, baby marrow, brinjal, broccoli, carrots, celery, chilli, cucumber, kale, mealies, peppers, pumpkin, radish, squash, spinach, spring onion and Swiss chard. Provide support in the form of a fence, a trellis or a wigwam of sticks for climbing beans, baby marrows, tomatoes and squash.
Tomatoes Plant seedlings deep in the soil with the top four leaves above the surface, as this helps develop a strong root system. Support growth with a cone of wire. Mulch to keep soil cool, conserve moisture and discourage weeds. Water root area thoroughly and regularly, avoiding water on leaves.
Lettuce Choose heat-resistant, open-leafed varieties. Water regularly as lettuce is shallowrooted and wilts quickly in hot weather. In hot gardens, grow in dappled afternoon shade.
Herbs Have easy access to culinary herbs by growing in pots near the kitchen door. Plant basil, borage, chives, coriander, lemon grass, French tarragon, parsley, rosemary, sage and thyme. Water plants regularly until well established, cut to encourage new, bushy growth and on basil plants, remove the flowers as they appear.