OctoberSquashes, apples and fallen leaves
October tips over towards winter. The first ground frosts arrive at the end of the month and put an end to the summer vegetables. Bring the squashes in somewhere dry, pull up the last tomato plants, and harvest storing apples, pears, quinces and walnuts. It is the big moment for planting fruit trees and bushes, garlic and winter onions, and for mulching everywhere with the fallen leaves that are coming down in abundance.
Tips of the month
- Bring squashes and pumpkins in before the frosts, after leaving them to dry in the sun for a few days.
- Harvest storing apples, pears, quinces, late grapes and hazelnuts.
- Pull up the finished summer plants and pick the green tomatoes to ripen indoors.
- Plant garlic, winter onions and autumn shallots.
- Plant fruit trees and bushes, bare-root as soon as the leaves have fallen.
- Lift the chicory roots and set them to force in the cellar.
- Mulch all the empty beds and the soft fruit with fallen leaves.
In the vegetable garden and orchard
What to do in october
Sow under cover
Sowing in the ground
Plant
Harvesting
- Tomato
- Courgette
- Sweet pepper
- Aubergine
- French bean (dwarf bean)
- Potato
- Carrot
- Beetroot
- Radish
- Turnip
- Parsnip
- Leek
- Lettuce
- Spinach
- Lamb's lettuce (corn salad)
- Rocket
- Cauliflower
- Cabbage
- Brussels sprouts
- Kale
- Broccoli
- Celeriac
- Florence fennel
- Winter squash and pumpkins
- Swiss chard
- Basil
- Parsley
- Chives
- Thyme
- Mint
- Coriander
- Dill
- Raspberry
- Apple
- Pear
- Grape
- Kiwi
- Fig
- Hazelnut
- Quince
On the plate
Eating in october
October is the month of pumpkin soup, stoemp (Belgian mash) with carrots, pears in syrup, quince jelly and baked apples. The last green tomatoes end up as chutney and the last beans in jars.
Living well
Gathering fallen leaves on an October Saturday, piling them onto the beds and catching the smell of humus beginning to form: that is active rest. The garden tucks itself in, and so do you.