Is the Start of the Season Really October?

First things first, harvest what you have left before the first frost if it will not survive.

I have harvested many red and green tomatoes, some runner beans and chillis that have survived longer than I expected this year. I have left Brussel Sprouts and Cabbages in the ground. These were late to the party and then we're savaged by caterpillars in the summer and so their growth is very behind and I don't think they will bring much of a harvest but the chickens will enjoy them if they aren't good enough for the kitchen.

Once you have harvested your crop it's time to tackle the plants themselves. We grow with permaculture in mind and so where we can we will chop and drop. This method means you cut the plants down to the base and then chop up the leaves and stems and leave them green mulch you've created in situ. Another option is to throw on the compost pile, if you have got one get one started!

Now we look at our growing situation. We go through the log book and work out what grew well, what didn't, what pest pressures we came up against and any other factors we have recorded that may have affected the performance of the vegetables.

If this is your first year you can still look at your growing space and look at things such as which area gets the best sun light or is a particular area more sheltered.

Looking at every aspect of your garden will allow you to plan your garden for this next season.

we want to use the growing space we have to the best or our ability. If you are using raised beds, can you fit more in? Are you happy with the location of your pots? Can you use the no dig method and grow straight on the ground?

Raised Bed Ideas

There are lots of options for raised beds on the market at the moment but you can also make them virtually for free (in some cases totally free!).

October is the perfect time to buy or build any new beds you need.

My favourite raised beds:

• Thompson & Morgan's Original Veggie Beds  https://www.thompson-morgan.com/p/original-veggie-bed/WKC0193TM
• Blumfeldt High Grow https://www.blumfeldt.co.uk/

Both of these are metal raised beds. The Original Veggie Beds can be built for different shapes and sizes. The Blumfeldt High Grow can be built as two 40 cm high beds rather than one 80cm high beds, although this will probably void the warranty and you'll be a few bolts short.

Another favourite are my beds built from pallets. These are what we started with and have done very well. These beds are good for adapting to build other structures around them. This year we will be building a net frame to go over the brassica beds as this year the butterfly pest pressure was very difficult despite netting.

Vertical Growing

October is also the perfect time to look at vertical garden options.

With stackable planters or wall mounted pots there are lots of options to maximise your growing space.

We are building arches to go between our raised beds. This will allow us more goewing space for runner beans, peas and maybe even melons!

We have also got some stackable planters, ours were sourced from Poundland and have been perfect to grow our strawberry plants and herbs.

We also have an old ladder from which we have pots that hook on. These pots are available from all over but we purchased ours at Poundland, Poundstretcher and Primark. All the Ps! 

What to Plant in October

If your beds, painters and pots are ready there are crops that can go in the ground in October/November. Most will only be a cover crop to look after your soil but it all has a purpose.

• Garlic
• Onions
• Broad Beans
• Peas

I have so far planted some Autumn planting soft and hardnecked varieties of garlic, red and white onions.

My cover crop this year is Broad Beans and these have already grown significantly in the last 2 weeks since planting.

I am also trying out planting some fairly hardy brassicas. This may seem crazy but the most I've to lose is a few seeds but given how mild our last winter was right up until February I thought I'd give it a shot so I also have:

• Cauliflower
• Broccoli
• Purple Broccoli
• Broccoli Raab

I would like to see what happens with these, the seedlings have been grown in my little plastic greenhouse and have done very well. I have hardened them off and the seedlings have been planted out into one of the raised beds with some frost cover over.