October Produce Swappers Gardening Tips

IN THE GARDEN:
October is really the start of true spring in the Macedon ranges. Daily temperatures are *slowly* rising (with some cold patches) and with them the soil temperature is also warming up. Beloved Aussie gardener, Jackie French, likes to say that you should wait until the soil is “warm enough to sit on with your bare bum” before planting out true summer crops like tomatoes, chillies, corn and pumpkins, so by that measure we probably have a little way to go yet! Brrrr…

Because we have had a wet winter and spring (it’s pouring down right at this very moment!) some herbs will benefit from a cut back now. Mint, oregano, thyme and marjoram will all spring back quickly if cut back and given a small amount of slow release, organic fertiliser, and it’s a good way to get an early harvest of herbs for drying. A haircut now will also prevent them flopping over later with too much long, soft growth. In a few weeks comfrey should be ready to cut to the ground in time to make liquid fertiliser for establishing summer veggies. Comfrey has a thick, fleshy taproot that stores enough nutrients to be able to bounce back after harvesting the majority of its leaves, so you can make use of it several times in the one season by hacking it right down. The same long, deep taproot allows comfrey to mine nutrients and trace elements from the subsoil which it then transports through to it’s leaves – making those leaves a valuable addition to weed teas and compost. Here is a short clip from Morag Gamble on how to make comfrey tea as a fertiliser for the garden.

It’s been a mild year comparatively for frosts, but we are still likely to get a few before the end of October so probably hold off to plant frost-tender summer veggies. Melbourne Cup Day is often used as a marker for planting out tomatoes and other sensitive veggies in cold areas – I tend to wait an extra week here in Malmsbury and then plant out, watching for clear, still nights and expecting to cover everything at least a few times til we get through November.

Plant now (transplant seedlings):

NOT BOTHERED BY FROST: Beetroot, celery, coriander, leek, lettuce, parsley, pak choi, tatsoi, mustard greens, bush peas, silverbeet and rainbow chard, onions, spring onions, rocket, kale. *A heavy frost can still affect these veggies when young but generally they are ok

FROST TENDER - can be grown in a polytunnel or shelter now, but plant in the garden later in the month or early Nov and cover on frosty nights: Basil, Beans -climbing and bush types, corn, capsicum, tomato, eggplant, tomatillo, cucumbers and gherkins, chillies, pumpkin and squash, zucchini, gourds, Malabar/climbing Egyptian spinach.

Sow now (sow seed direct):

NOT BOTHERED BY FROST: beetroot, carrots, coriander, parsnips, spring onions, onions, rocket, radish, Daikon radish, mustard greens, lettuce

FROST TENDER - plant in the garden later in the month or early November and cover on frosty nights: beans, sunflowers *can be sown direct now*, cucumber, corn, pumpkins, zucchini, gourds, potatoes *can be planted out now*

Happy gardening!

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