October In My Central Otago Veggie Garden

October In My Central Otago Veggie Garden

October in the Kitchen Garden is such an exciting and frustrating time.

Everything is in full swing, seedlings are coming along beautifully, things that wintered over are coming alive with the warm soil and sun on their leaves.

At present I’m keeping my head and not going overboard with sowing everything all at once.

For me I like to regularly head out to the garden shed maybe once or twice every couple days to sow a couple trays of the next round of vegetables.

So, let's get into October In My Central Otago Veggie Garden.

Summer Vegetable Sowing

I have only just sown my summer vegetables - tomatoes (these are planted outside in early November), cucumbers (grown in the glasshouse, planted out late October), chillies (glasshouse, same as cucumbers), eggplants (same as chillies/cucumbers).

I have yet to sow the heat-loving beans - borlotti/cannellini/French runners, but they will go directly into the ground around the start of November.

If I wanted to, I could start them off in trays, but I’m running out of room in the glasshouse, so I can hold off, no problem.

Salad Greens Here We Come

I will begin sowing a row of carrots and radishes in mid-October. I would have started them earlier, but with the wet weather we've had recently, I held off. Once I begin, I'll do a row every couple of weeks until about mid-February.

I will also begin my leafy greens this week - lettuce leaves, spinach, rocket, and my mesclun mix (a blend of kale, rocket, mustard leaves, and other cool leaves that I don't want whole rows of).

I will also be planting red and green cos because it's my new addiction in my summer salad. I love the crunch!

Asparagus Season In Central Otago

Things are popping up in the garden and I'm getting super excited about a couple of them because it's the kickoff to spring and summer eating.

Asparagus is a true early summer veggie. This vegetable is a labour of love because although you plant it, you have to wait.

The first year in the ground, you leave it all to go to seed. Then the second year, you can pick 1/3 of the crop and leave the rest to go to seed. In the third year, you pick half of the crop and leave the rest to go to seed.

We have finally reached its fourth year, so now we can eat to our heart's content. The reason for all the watching and waiting is to give you a strong and happy plant that will continue for many years to come.

Companion Planting & Why We Do It

My companion flowers will begin going into the garden over the next couple of weeks.

There are several that go in every year and several that I don’t need to plant as they self-seed very easily.

Calendula, Marigold, and Borage are my favourites that will always have a place in my garden. They attract the bees and pollinators. They are edible and they just look pretty.

The sunflowers have been sown and have germinated. They will go out at the same time as the tomatoes and courgettes because then I’ll feel there is no risk of frosts. Each bed will get a selection of all the flowers as well as some herbs like parsley and basil.

Companion planting isn’t just there to look pretty; it also is beneficial to plant health and helps keep the annoying bugs we don’t want. Aphids love marigolds, basil smell masked tomatoes from them too.

Chives help keep carrot fly from your patch as do onions, so I sow my carrots among my onions and garlic to help with that.

October can be the busiest month but so worth the effort.

Enjoy it and Dig In !!!

GABI.