Notes from my October Garden

The heavy indigo stained sky pushes down the valley towards us. A lone sun-ray pierces through, illuminating the mountain top. Thick plip plopping raindrops begin to rebound off the greenhouse roof - the perfect place to shelter from the wild spring weather that still taunts us. Every inch of space is taken up in the greenhouse, seed trays jostling for space between crops that are in their prime. At the end of October it is time to pull all the crops out to make way for the summer lovers - tomatoes, cucumbers, basil and a couple of dahlias. It can be hard to pull out crops when you know that they still have a bit more to give however having a short growing season means it is important to sacrifice some end harvests to get the next crop in otherwise we risk not getting a harvest from the newly planted crop at all.

What I’m sowing at the moment:

Flowers: California poppies, phlox, sunflowers - all indoors. Sweet peas - outside.

Veges: Courgettes, pumpkins, spring onions, lettuce, basil, beans, peas - all indoors.

What I’m harvesting:

Fritillary, daffodils, tulips, iceland poppies, ranunculus, anenomes, lilac, rocket, parsley & coriander.

potatoes:

This labour weekend marked the first anniversary of my father in law suddenly passing away & our lives being sent into a wild orbit where we are still trying to regain our footing. For the last 4 or 5 summers of his life he took great pleasure in growing potatoes to share with all his family and was especially proud to dig up the first bucket of Jersey Benne early potatoes to serve for Christmas lunch. I have tucked some Jersey Bennes into some large pots hoping that I will be able to provide the potatoes for Christmas this year. And so as I grow my potatoes each year I will always be reminded of him. It is such a lovely idea that our gardens can serve as a conduit between us and our loved ones.

I grow early potatoes in a 30 litre pot using the method that I learnt from Simplify Gardening on YouTube.

The first flower of the “Amazing Grey” poppy that really is amazing. These plants were sown in early autumn and planted in the greenhouse, biding their time growing big healthy root systems over the winter. Then as the temperatures have risen and almost 7 months later they have exploded into growth and are covered in buds. I cannot wait to have a handful of flowers to photograph.

Beautiful, lush vibrant tomatoes that have now all been potted up and are awaiting the greenhouse beds to be amended before planting. Beds filled with compost, well rotted manure and comfrey all mean that they will be reaching for the top of the greenhouse in just a month or so. One of my favourite crops to grow, that first tomato harvest is always a special harvest in the gardening year.