Gardening Jobs For Your Allotment or Smallholding This October
It can be said that a gardener’s work is never done and this phrase is never truer than in the month of October. Before the clocks go back and our daylight hours get ever shorter, now is the ideal time to get as many jobs done in the allotment plot, smallholding or vegetable patch as possible.
Whilst many of our crops have now finished and started to die back after their growing season, we still have plenty of vegetables left to harvest. We also have an ever-increasing list of vegetables which we would like to get in the ground before winter arrives. Read on for what we will be up to in our vegetable patches over the coming weeks.

Vegetables to Harvest This Month
Amazingly we still have a few runner beans and courgettes left on our plants to pick. We will be removing the last of each crop and enjoying them over the next few weeks.

Courgette Plant

We will also be busy digging up the last of our maincrop potatoes and making sure that they are dried off and stored in paper or hessian sacks ready to store and use over the coming months.
The squashes and pumpkins are also now ready to cut from their stalks, and again these will be stored somewhere cool but dry to use in a variety of dishes over the coming months. We might even allow some of the larger ones to be carved into ghoulish faces for halloween!
The brussel sprouts are also developing nicely, and whilst it is still too early to harvest them, it is important to remember to give the stalks some extra support. Adding a bamboo cane or stake to the stalks will help to protect them from strong winds and hopefully ensure you have enough sprouts to enjoy with your Christmas lunch.

Vegetables to Plant This Month
October is a great time to plant your onion and garlic sets ready for enjoying them next year. Planting now will ensure their roots develop before winter arrives, as well as giving you a headstart on anyone else who waits until next spring to plant theirs.

Onion Set

You can also help with root development by applying Ecofective Pro Root Enhancer to your soil before you plant your onion and garlic sets. Made from 100% natural Leonardite comprising a unique blend of Humic, Fulvic and Ulmic acids in a water soluble formulation at it’s natural acid pH, Root Enhancer will help to reduce leaching and improve nutrient availability.

Do you have any fruit trees on your allotment or smallholding? If you would like to start growing them for the first time, or add some new varieties to an existing orchard, then now is the perfect time to plant some trees. You can purchase bare root varieties of apples and pears to plant directly into the ground. Even better, it can also be much cheaper to buy them as bare root plants rather than in pots! Again, you can help ensure strong root development by applying ecofective Pro Root Enhancer to your soil before planting.
If your allotment or fruit and vegetable garden doesn’t have space for a fruit tree, then how about purchasing blackcurrant, redcurrants or gooseberries as bare root plants? These will also be much cheaper to buy now than the ones you see in pots in spring and summer.

A Time To Reflect
As well as harvesting the last of your crops and preparing the ground ready for winter and spring vegetables, October is also a good time to reflect on the previous season. The summer heatwave and drought conditions made for a tricky growing season this year, but despite this, what grew well on your plot this year? What didn’t grow so well and if so is there a reason other than lack of water? Is there anything you wish you had grown more of?
As the nights draw in, why not sit down and make a list of what you were happy with this year and what you were disappointed by. Maybe you could even set yourself a challenge next year of growing something completely new? We would love to know what you are harvesting and planting over the next few weeks, so why not share your plans with us by tagging us into your posts or stories on social media?

In the meantime, Happy Growing!