The Garden In October

We have arrived at the last episode of our monthly gardening series. I am feeling slightly nostalgic about our series coming to an end. Looking back at the progress of our plants, I am amazed at how much can happen within just a few months and how much produce we were able to grow. I can definitely say that I have learned quite a lot about gardening throughout this year. I hope you have also found some of the tips helpful and can take away a few things from this series. 

As the weeks pass, our garden is starting to look emptier and emptier as withered plants are removed and composted. We removed the last of our tomato plants a few weeks ago. My husband helped me pull out the plants along with the roots as I currently still need to take it easy due to the tenditis. I will certainly miss the taste of homegrown tomatoes!

The zucchini plants, while looking a bit weary, are still producing zucchini. We had to remove a lot of the leaves due to mildew which caused their growth to slow down. We made sure to not throw any mildew infected leaves onto our compost to prevent infecting new plants next year. This is super important because certain diseases can withstand the composting process and the soil can infect new plants. We threw the sick parts of the plant into the bushes where they are now composting.

Our pumpkins are looking well and we’ll hopefully soon be able to harvest our first pumpkin, just in time for Halloween. Since pumpkins are sensitive to moisture, I placed smooth rocks underneath them to protect them from the wet soil. Another option is placing straw around them but since I didn’t have any, I opted for rocks, which work just as well.

The bell pepper and chilli plants are also still going strong. Since I had confused the chilli seeds for bell pepper seeds and planted A LOT, I now have more chilli peppers than I could ever need. I think I have enough for the next 3 years or so! Luckily they keep well once dried. My dad recently told me that chilli plants can be overwintered which was new information to me. However, I just laughed and said, ‘I think I have enough.’.

Much to my surprise, we are still harvesting strawberries although we are well into October. The cooler temperatures seem to have little effect on our busy strawberry plants. Luckily our winters aren’t very harsh and we only have mild freezing temperatures which is not a problem for strawberry plants. Gardeners in harsher climate zones should protect strawberry plants with a layer of mulch.

A lot of our herbs are growing faster and taller now that the temperatures have dropped. Parsley, mint and chives prefer cooler and moist weather conditions. The parsley that was almost completely withered through the summer heat is now making a promising comeback. And the mint that I cut back almost entirely just a few weeks ago has grown into a large healthy bushel.

While not garden related but extremely adorable, our kitten Joe in the maple tree in our garden. She is growing so fast and becoming a well skilled climber. Just recently I found her in a tree, about 8 meters up from the ground! Just a few months ago she couldn’t reach the bed unless I lifted her onto it. Why do they grow up so fast?!

Well, that’s all I have for you this month. I hope you enjoyed this series and found the infos helpful. If would like to see me cover any other gardening topics, let me know in the comment section down below! I wish all fellow gardeners a pleasant winter break!