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October 2020 autumn harvests, new planting under cover, composting wood chips, diseases

Written by

Charles Dowding

Last Updated

September 29, 2020

It’s a stark difference between the remains of summer in late September, and an entry to winter by 31st. I notice while picking salads every week, how leaves from the same plants become thinner, paler and smaller, the opposite of spring. It’s as much about light as temperature.

September here has been unusually dry, with just 14mm or 0.6in rain. We have not watered much because it’s going to rain soon, and with no dig the soil is holding moisture very well.

Zinnias add lovely colour to the garden in learly autumn, these were transplanted 20th May

Equinox harvest September — Equinox at Homeacres, the cabbage is Filderkraut, weighs 4.6kg, is growing where cabbage grew for the previous 5 years

Chicory hearts (radicchio) of variety 506TT, for the salad bags I sell

Most sowing is done except for garlic, and broad beans later

You can separate your own garlic bulbs, into cloves for planting. It’s the only vegetable worth sowing now, and are for a harvest next June. I pop garlic cloves into dibbed holes almost at soil level, then cover with 3cm of compost.

We are raising transplants to grow under cover through winter. They were sown in September, as per advice on the Sowing Timeline and in my Calendar.

Salad seedlings in modules — Brassica salads include rocket and mustards sown 10 days earlier, multisown 3 seeds and thinned to two mostly

Lettuce 3 weeks old — Lettuce Grenoble Red is 3 weeks old and could go in now, if ground were ready! Also land cress, winter purslane, lambs lettuce

Lettuce plants on a shelf away from pests — A useful shelf for salad plants, no slugs or woodlice at this altitude!

Pricking and planting, interplanting

Pricking out is when small, two leaf seedlings are moved from seed tray to individual modules.
Transplanting is when plants of small to medium size go in the ground: we use a wooden dibber to make holes for them
Interplanting is when you pop transplants between existing plantings which will finish soon, details in online course 2

Lettuce seedlings pricked into modules — Lettuce seedlings pricked into module trays, are just four days old and this was 11th September

Transplanting lettuce one month old — Transplanting lettuce 15th September which we had pricked out three weeks earlier. These Grenoble Red lettuce are winter hardy, should crop nicely in the spring. See this bed 12 days later, below

Spinach was interplanted five weeks earlier — Spinach Medania on 28th September, was interplanted between lettuce on 23rd August as 13 day old seedlings

First frosts, very slight so far

We had a ground frost on 26th and 28th September, but only briefly, no damage caused. Plants at risk include climbing and dwarf beans, squash and pumpkin, tomato, potato, courgette and cucumber. I covered the climbing beans with Thermacrop, and it helped to minimise damage, which was minimal as it happens. Watch the weather forecasts, be aware of your local conditions.

Bean teepees and frames wrapped in Thermacrop 27th September evening

The following morning and all was well — The following morning, with other covers protecting against insects

Lettuce and peas resist some frost — After a slight frost and all is fine, without protection – peas resist some frost

Cabbage and Chinese cabbage

The brassica family is huge, and each member needs understanding of best times to sow and plant. All are enjoyed by insects and other wildlife!

For example Chinese cabbage can make lovely hearts or heads in the autumn, from sowing mid to late summer. While spring cabbage is best sown late summer, to over-winter as small plants. They they make most growth in early to mid spring, sometimes even hearting up, depending on the variety.

On 23rd August, these Chinese cabbage are three weeks old and went in this bed five days earlier, after we cleared French beans. No compost added, as usual in summer.

Same plants just five weeks later — Same plants five weeks later, so now are eight weeks old and already showing signs of hearting

Spring cabbage transplants of three days earlier — Spring cabbage Cape Horn F1 on 27th September, was sown less than four weeks earlier and transplanted here three days earlier

Compost and other sources of fertility

There are plenty of raw materials for compost making now, and if you want quality compost, best cut any long stems and woody material to 10cm lengths. A lawnmower is good for shredding tree leaves and twiggy prunings.

Use one half of such woody material, with one half grass clippings and leafy material, for a balanced mix to make compost. If the woody material is very woody, such as wood chip preferably aged already, use one quarter or less.

If adding tree leaves, around one quarter of the mix is max. If you have a lot of leaves, their own pile works well for leaf mould. Chopped with a mower is good. Leaf mould decays more slowly than a compost heap, it’s fungal, and valuable in the end.

I have been happy to receive two piles of wood chips recently, from tree surgeons happy to offload. Both heaps heated to 60C for a few days, after we watered them.

Two day old heap of wood chip from Noel, I tidies the edges, watered and it’s briefly at 60C 140F

Wood chip one week old, fermenting — This heap from Andrea arrived a week before the photo and had more leaf, meaning it stayed hot for longer

From a cool heap, received in March, now six months old. If heaps do not get hot, decomposition is more fungal and you see lots of white mycelia like this

Harvesting, clearing

Harvest winter squash by mid October, and before frost. Then bring into the house so they cure in the warmth. A sunny windowsill serves well, and once the squash are fully dry on the outside, they keep for months, to eat at your leisure. Pumpkins on the other hand do not store so well and want eating by December – their skin is softer and flesh more watery than true squash.

Best pick all remaining tomatoes now, and bring them indoors to finish ripening. They ripen better off the plant, anywhere in your house, and not in sunshine as it happens, according to a recent trial by Which? Gardening.

Crown Prince squash in summer — This was 30th July and I am holding a squash harvested the previous October. This year’s plants are growing behind me, Crown Prince mostly

Late September and the new harvest of squashes — 29th September, the new harvest of squashes are curing on the windowsill, some Kuri to right

Polytunnel 28th September, still harvests to come but within two weeks this will look different

Diseases

There are always a few, but mostly they are not catastrophic! The captions are to give you guidance.

Rust on older leek leaves, shows as orange spots and should not be too prevalent. We pull off rusty leaves and put them on the compost heap.

White blister fungus on outer cabbage leaves, is a disease I had barely seen until last year, appears on older plants and leaves here

Mildew on lambs lettuce from dry conditions — Mildew on lambs lettuce is from dry soil, from sowing too early. In mild areas you could still sow seeds, for harvests next spring

Wind damage

August winds blew over my broccoli plants, and it looked bad just after the event. However, brassica plants have amazing strength and are used to coping with wind, perhaps because of their seaside origins. The photos show how they stood up again, without our doing anything except for keeping them tidy, removing lower leaves. That helps to keep slug numbers low.

Windblown broccoli Claret F1 for cropping in spring, on 21st August — Morning of 21st August, broccoli Claret F1 for cropping in spring, was transplanted here 7 weeks earlier

Same broccoli on 28th September — Same broccoli plants on 28th September. We have sprayed four times with Bacillus thuringiensis, to minimise caterpillar damage

Growth is still steady, but is decreasing fast too

The photos below show the change over eight days since the equinox. The soil and air are still warm, but nights are cooling fast, and daylight now decreases very fast!

The third plantings below will make only small harvests. They are still worthwhile, and are good for soil because their roots keep the soil organisms busy and help them to feed. You could also sow a green manure such as mustard or field beans, and as soon as possible.