Garden Preparation - October

Oh, October!  Sometime this month most of Rensselaer County probably will experience a killing frost. The historical average is still noted to be around  Oct. 15, but higher elevations can be at least a week earlier and the  areas closer to the Hudson Valley a week or so later.  Late in September,  many of the vegetables in my garden  had sprung into a renewed growth spurt   thanks to  good moisture levels and temperatures in the 70°s.  My peppers, tomatoes and beans are now  racing to bear more fruit in advance of the Mr. Frost's eventual grim reapings; and I am enjoying second plantings of lettuce, carrots and peas.

 But now let's  go  to  garden nagging...

• October is a good time to spread your compost onto the garden.  It will continue decomposing and give you a headstart next spring.  The down side, of course, is that you will need to turn over compost pile now.  You may even need to sift it...  

• Continue garden clean up. Hopefully, you have already removed all the weeds, but there are  probably  vegetable vines and stalks that need to  be removed.  

Napoli tomatoes racing to ripen a final crop.

• Tomatoes -  Keep checking those weather reports.  If the temperatures turn cooler and appear to linger in the low 60°s, pick your  remaining tomatoes. The green ones will ripen off the vine, and it's wise to check them regularly for signs of decay. 

• Kale  - Remember, even  those colorful "ornamental" varieties are  edible. When you get tired of looking at them, don't waste them.  Add them to an omlet.

• Leeks & parsnips - Protect these hardy plants with straw. The leeks will last probably through November or longer. The parsnips will be sweeter and easier to dig in the spring if mulched now.

• Garlic - Hardnecks vs softnecks: You should certainly at least now start contemplating planting cloves for next year.  For the northeast   hardneck varieties are hardier although they do not store as long as soft neck varieties.  If you are interested in garlic  options,  look at this post from thespruce.com about choosing garlic varieties.  Because of our warming climate, I have found that in my urban setting  it is better to wait until early November  to plant next year's garlic.  You do not want the cloves to sprout and grow too much in response to a warm October. Use plenty of mulch now to keep them cool as well as protected from  winter's frigit cold.

Rhubarb. Source: Creative Commons - Public Domain

• Rhubard - Now is the time to divide it. Maybe you can convince a friend that rhubarb is the perfect  ornamental plant to fill that  empty space in their yard.  In the Middle Ages rhubarb was  considered a medicinal plant - a diuretic; but considering that the stems contain a concentration of oxalic acid, rhubarb tea is not now to be recommended...    Good luck in digging it up. Although it is easier to divide than day lillies, you will need to dig deep because  rhubarb's roots are long and stocky. Fortunately the plant is quite hardy and can absorb and lot of abuse. 

Broad leaf sage. Photo: I. Stephens

Herbs - It is also time also to start dividing or potting those herbs  you want to take in for the winter. This year I planted about a half dozen  herbs in large pots directly in the ground.  In the past I've had mixed results trying to pot herbs for the winter --   most probably because I've been using small pots. 

We'll see how this works out. I'm hoping that not too many roots have discovered the drain holes to grow through.

Olla Update & Season Finale

This spring I said I was going to try using an olla - a buried container that slowly seeps water into the soil - and I did.  I placed an olla in the center of a typee frame I use for pole beans, and it did help to sustain the soil's moisture level.     

My backyard garden consists of 4 x 8' raised beds.  The soil is loamy, and I can easily dig down at least 24 - 30". However, ollas do take up space and are not practical for some square foot gardening situations.  My community garden plot is not suitable either because it is very clayish making  digging or tilling  extremely challenging.  Also, being clayish, water does not permeate well thorugh the soil.  

I created my olla from two 8" terra cotta pots lightly secured together with a bead of caulking around the rims.The caulking provided just enough adhesion to keep the pots together while I buried the olla. I  plugged the pot's bottom drain hole and used the drain hole on the inverted top pot to fill the olla.  I generally needed to replenish  water supply (about a 2 1/2 gal   watering can) every 2 - 3 days.  

And, most importantly, I remembered to dig up the olla this past week in order to avoid damage from freezing.  I will definitely reuse the olla next season for my cucumber typee. 

And remember:

"Rhubarb and patience can work wonders." - German proverb

Two Gardens in Winter

Today I visited the Master Gardeners' Demonstration Garden's vegetable beds at the Robert C. Parker School in North Greenbush.  The thin covering of undisturbed snow on the beds within the fencing seemed to reinforce the orderliness of the garden's appearance mitigating an otherwise rather barren landscape.  Last October my Master Gardener colleagues had set the stage for my perception by removing the last remnent vegetables and weeds to the compost pile and planting garlic.  Looking at this garden now on this cold day, I know it's waiting and ready to start again.

And then there is my own backyard garden in Troy...  The fencing looks similar to the Demo's garden,  but that's about all.

I did prepare some of my beds for winter, and I did put some garlic in the ground.  I did not winterize all of my beds because I kept telling myself that the weather would stay mild a little longer letting me  harvest a little more kale, a few more scallions and a bit more  parsley.  Although the weather did stay mild for quite a while, when it turned cold, it really turned cold.  Fortunately, that first cold snap did not linger long enough to freeze the ground  to prohibit me from planting my garlic.

I used to follow the advice in gardening books and set garlic between September and October, but I stopped this practice after noticing the milder  temperatures of recent years were causing the garlic to start sprouting.  Garlic will start growing in soils at 50°F. In theory, the cloves will first develop roots;  and when the soil cools below 50°F,  any sprout development stops and the cloves go dormant. Now, I generally set out my garlic near the end of November or a little later and use a little extra mulch to keep the soil cool in case of one final warm snap. This approach seems to be working.

Regarding my garden fencing, it has evolved over the years.  Forty years ago when I first moved to Troy, I just used 24" chicken wire around each bed to keep out a few rabbits and our first dog who definitely lacked vegetarian taste buds.  The next dog was different, a yellow lab possessing strong omnivorous compulsions. He loved bush beans, peas, carrots, lettuce, raspberries - everything I liked.  I installed 36" high fencing around the entire garden to discourage him.  Fortunately, he never jumped over  or dug under it. A few years later after our dog had passed away, I came home from a short vacation to find the lettuce bed neatly mowed.  Woodchucks had arrived in the neighborhood.  No one on our block had dogs anymore, or kids, to annoy these pests.  Consequently, I installed my current fence to meet these new conditions.  Woodchucks remain in area, but have been excluded from my garden; and although I now see an occasional deer in my backyard,  so far they have not jumped the fence.