Almost October

Many yard and garden projects start in October and some require late September preparation. October 1st is when compost becomes available at the wastewater treatment plant on River Road, these are leaves collected last fall and composted and chopped to a fine texture. My raised beds are refilled each fall with this compost, but that means the beds have to be empty to receive the compost. Right now the beds have second plantings of peas, spinach and zucchini that are going strong, winter squash and sweet potatoes that are not acting like fall is approaching, and even tomatoes and peppers that are still producing with no frost date in sight. Carrots and parsley are always left in the garden until late, carrots until the ground starts to freeze, parsley lasts until next spring. With the recent rain more plants may wake up and start growing. Big dilemma. If you use city compost you may be facing the same dilemma, even if you don't you still need to assess the garden at this cusp of harvest. There are four varieties of tomato with two plants of each, probably the more tired plant of each pair will be removed after collecting all decent-sized green tomatoes. One tomato variety was planted too close to the zinnia bed which was too close to the jalepeno peppers and all three have grown together. It is a little cute to see zinnias in the tomatoes and tomatoes in the zinnias. Probably tomatoes and peppers will be harvested, old zinnia heads collected and fresh flowers put in vases, then the whole mess torn out. Even if most of the beds are not completely empty by October first, there will be enough room in most beds to pile up the compost. As anticipated, the sweet potato and squash vines are everywhere, they will get trimmed so paths are navigable, but harvest will probably not be for another month. October and November are prime times for the planting of perennials, both woody trees and shrubs and bulbs since they will have time to acclimate and put down some roots before winter. This can be for new plants and for moving or thinning current perennials. If you remember where the thick patch of non-blooming daffodils was last spring, or noticed an unhappy milkweed too much in the shade and requiring a new home, now is the time to start planning the moves. Other perennials like iris and ferns can also be moved. If you plan to plant a tree, now is the time to prepare its site. The hole should be 2-3 times the width of the root ball, and at least two feet deep. Remove the soil, return the bottom one foot, mix two inches of compost/organic material with the remaining soil and return it to the hole. The hole is ready to receive its tree when you get it. A lot of work to be done in the next month, but the first weekend in October is the gourd festival in Delaware Ohio and I will be there. Apple gourds were planted this year and will not be harvested until frost, but the show is inspirational for what can be done with gourds. Enjoy the season.