Growing Nicely

gardening, sustainability, growing food, plants and flowers.

  • Home
  • About
  • Garden Writing
  • Garden Services
    • A Garden Consultation to Reveal the Beauty of your Garden.
  • The Blog
    • Sustainable Gardening
    • Growing Food
    • Gardening & Plants
    • Garden Design
    • Garden Visits
  • Contact Me

What to do at the allotment in October.

October 4, 2015 By Jill Anderson Leave a Comment

October marks a big change in the allotment year, the fast growing frenzy of summer has gone and it’s more a tidying up and harvesting kind of month, but there’s still a bit of planting to do and seeds that can be sown.

I’ve got a list of things to do before the clocks go back on the 25th October when the days will be noticeably shorter.

Harvesting:

I’ll be digging up the all the potatoes on my plot this month, in any case they’ll just deteriorate, but mainly it’s to stop the dreaded potato blight [Phytophthora infestans] lurking on the plot in potatoes that have been left in the ground.

The fungus also affects other members of the solinaceae family, like tomatoes, and having lost my tomatoes to this disease this year, I’m being extra careful to dig up all potatoes, even the tiny ones.

What to do at the allotment in October -potatoes growing at the allotment

potato plants growing at the allotment in early summer.

Prevention is one of the best weapons in the armoury of us organic growers.

Dig up beans and pea plants, the base of the plant and roots should be left to add nitrogen to the soil as they break down.

Cut winter squash and pumpkins and leave them in the sun so that the skin hardens for better storage, if there’s no sun around, somewhere cool and airy is almost as good.

tying in squash plants to teepees

fixing squash plants to their teepees as they were growing.

Harvest summer vegetables like courgettes and beetroot before the first frost comes.

Parsnips can be left in the ground, they sweeten up after a couple of frosts and carrots can stay there too and be pulled up as needed. I’ve made a note to sow more carrots next year, I ran out weeks ago and although they’re cheap to buy I love the sweet taste of frexhly picked ones and the coloured ones for their novelty value.

carrots multi-coloured

I grew these at the allotment, they were so sweet & delicious, the purple ones are ‘Cosmic Purple’

Dump cleared plant growth on the compost bin, just make sure that it’s healthy and hasn’t had any disease. Large amounts of green, planty additions to the heap can be balanced with some form of cardboard or brown paper to stop it all getting too soggy.

The soil:

The soil has worked hard and needs to be revived ready for a good harvest next year, plants grow more healthily in good soil making them more resistant to diseases. Add a thick layer of compost or spent mushroom compost, there’s no need to dig it in, it’ll eventually get mixed in by those hard working worms.

Fruit:

Autumn fruiting raspberries should keep coming untill the first frosts.

Rhubarb becomes dormant this month so it’s a good time to dig it up and divide it, you’ll need a lot of energy for this particular job.

rhubarb picked at the allotment

freshly picked rhubarb

Bare-root fruit bushes can be planted this month and next, it’s much cheaper to buy them like this rather than as potted plants and they’re easily bought online.

Preserve as much as you can

There are plenty of apples at my allotment, they’re not the tastiest of fruit, but perfect for freezing. I partially cook them and freeze in crumble sized batches, so they can be defrosted and tipped into a pie or crumble dish. They’re a good ingredient for chutney too and I’m also giving bags of them away.

There are a few things to grow:

  • Plant garlic ready for next summer, it needs a good period of frost.

plant the cloves 5cm/2in deep so the tip is covered, 18cm/7in apart, 30cm/12in between rows.

garlic growing in the raised bed at the allotment

garlic just starting to grow in Spring

What to do at the allotment in October- garlic bulb

the first of the garlic picked at the allotment this year

  • Sow broad beans for next spring, they’re worth growing because they’re easy and it’s almost impossible to buy them small and tender enough in the shops.

Aquadulce Claudia is a good variety, plant the seeds 5cm/2in in the ground, spaced 50cm/20in apart, 75cm/2ft 6in between rows.

Find out all about curing winter squash here so that they last as long as possible over the winter, and how to grow gooseberries here.

Happy gardening, Jill

all photos: Jill Anderson

Related posts:

What to do at the allotment in FebruaryWhat to do at the allotment in February The Drunken Botanist book,Gardening Books For Christmas What To Do In The Garden In August. blue delphineum flowers, aquilegia flower, www.growingnicely.co.ukWhat To Do In The Garden In June

Related posts:

What to do at the allotment in FebruaryWhat to do at the allotment in February The Drunken Botanist book,Gardening Books For Christmas What To Do In The Garden In August. blue delphineum flowers, aquilegia flower, www.growingnicely.co.ukWhat To Do In The Garden In June
Filed Under: Blog, Gardening, Growing Food, Recycling & Sustainability Tagged With: Aquadulce Claudia broad beans, growing garlic, how to cure winter squash, Phytophthora infestans, potato blight

Never Miss A Post

Subscribe for updates to be delivered straight to your inbox.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

plants-gardens-growing-eating

Jill-profile image

Hello, I’m Jill Anderson.
This is where you’ll find good, solid information about gardening, growing fruit & vegetables and how to keep it all looking good.
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
The healing, calming power of nature in one photo. The healing, calming power of nature in one photo.
These wonderful autumn colours won’t be around for much longer. But that’s ok, because now is what matters, & their fleeting beauty makes them even more precious.
It’s easy to see how being among trees & nature is so beneficial for our health & wellbeing. 
Have a great Sunday.
Savouring all the autumn colour, & doesn’t it lo Savouring all the autumn colour, & doesn’t it look spectacular with this bold front door.
Today has been hard work, after a lovely time last week in Norfolk. The north coast there is spectacular. Realising these last few months, that there are so many beautiful places here. 
Have a nice evening.
Charming glasshouse at Houghton Hall, Norfolk. Vis Charming glasshouse at Houghton Hall, Norfolk. Visiting to see the Anish Kapoor sculptures, which are amazing, but unprepared for the beauty of the grounds & garden. 
Such a treat, worth coming to Norfolk for this alone!
Hope you’re keeping well, & managing to smile some of the time. x
P.S. more of Houghton Hall & Anish Kapoor on my stories
We stopped off on the way home to pick blackberrie We stopped off on the way home to pick blackberries, after coffee & cake, sitting in the churchyard - the cafe was full, & the churchyard is a quiet, peaceful spot..... as you’d expect.
-
One little advantage of lockdown is walking so much more, rather than using the car. Though it shouldn’t have taken something as momentous as this, for me to change bad habits 🙁
Hope you’re weekend is going well.
My hazel arch, a bit lopsided 🙄 using wood from My hazel arch, a bit lopsided 🙄 using wood from a random clump of hazel on the garden. Now looking much better covered in winter squash plants, so you can’t see just how ramshackle it is. I like to think it has a certain home-spun charm .

Great for small space gardening, imagine how much room you need to grow these without vertical supports.

I’ve got 2 Uchiki kuri, lovely nutty flavour.
1 Turks turban, for its flamboyant shape & colours, though it also tastes good.
One unknown, grown by my grandsons in their homeschooled science lesson.
Close-ups of the squash over on my stories.
Stay cool my friends x
I wanted to show you this lovely lily ( Lilium reg I wanted to show you this lovely lily ( Lilium regale) which is flowering right outside our bedroom window. 
It gets sun for about 4 hours only, you can order the bulbs now for planting in September. It’ll reappear every year & waft delicious scent around your garden, or through your windows.
Have a very happy Monday x
It’s British Flower Week, there’s a lot to be It’s British Flower Week, there’s a lot to be said for fabulous seasonal flowers that haven’t travelled thousands of miles ...... & are wonderful for biodiversity
A bit of rain, nice long days (it’s almost mid-s A bit of rain, nice long days (it’s almost mid-summer!) & it’s, mostly, all growing nicely.

Spinach, courgettes & garlic in shot here. 
Enjoy the rest of your Sunday x
Hope is a decision I’ve thought long & hard abou Hope is a decision
I’ve thought long & hard about how to view the tumult in the world we’re living in now. 
The only thing that works for me, is to choose hope.

It’s a tall order, but avoiding mainstream news & speculation helps avoid the anxiety, that’s often waiting in the wings.

One day soon there’ll be grandchildren clambering over this again.
Follow on Instagram

Don't miss any posts!

Enter your email address and receive notifications of new posts.

Archive

Copyright © 2021 Growing Nicely | Privacy Policy

Please note this website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent for cookies to be used. For further information on use of cookies please refer to our privacy policy Find out more.