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October 2021 Autumn arrives with transplanting more vegetables, seed saving, mulching weeds in asparagus, saving time

Written by

Charles Dowding

Last Updated

October 3, 2021

September was lovely here, with gentle weather and abundant growth. We have continued to transplant outside, including spinach, spring onions, mustards, chervil and spring cabbage. In the greenhouse now are seedlings to transplant under cover once we clear summer vegetables.

The new area continues to impress,. We took a huge squash harvest from ground that was thick weeds and grass in February> Squash plants went in through black plastic, and now we have sowed that area with mustards, mostly as cover crop/green manure. They are killed by frosts below -5C/23F.

The garden remains fully planted for a while yet

transplanting spring cabbage autumn equinox — I am transplanting spring cabbage from a CD60 module tray on 24th September, after harvesting and clearing dry Borlotti beans

Homeacres new no dig garden 300sqm created in 7 months — Homeacres new no dig garden 300sqm, created in 7 months from weedy pasture with much bindweed

Polycropping and close spacings of multisown plants, all second plantings after potatoes, onions etc

Transplant quickly, effectively

Learning to use a long handled dibber speeds up the key process of transplanting. This enables you to maintain a full garden more easily and quickly than when sowing seeds direct for example.

My new dibber sold out rather quickly. This gave us the chance to add spacing intervals to the new stock, arriving mid October. See how I use a dibber in this recent You Tube video.

Another aspect of this is to pop in small plants, grown in the compact module cells of my CD60 trays, which mean you need less space for propagation. Also it’s easier to dib just small holes, to receive transplants which are ready to pop in just three weeks from sowing, as you see with the spring onions below.

Charles marking row lines with a long handled dibber — I’m marking row lines with a long handled dibber

Charles dibbing holes for transplants — Next I Charles dibb holes for transplants, slightly deeper than the module rootballs

Bed transplanted with multisown spring onions, — Bed was cleared of French beans then transplanted with multisown spring onions, for eventual harvests next April and May

Saving time and effort through skilful work

My new book is nearing completion, both of writing and editing. It has been a challenge to find time, and it’s a topic close to my heart, teaching better use of time, energy and resources. The photos below give examples to the topics covered.

Skills - securing a cover with an extra wire on top — Skills – securing a cover with an extra wire on top

Charles Dowding's new book is Skills for Growing — My new book appears in January and is about the Skills you need for successful results

Propagation skills, seedlings for winter salads

No dig skills and results, more freedom

Mulching is the biggest timesavers, and is so good for soil life, learn more in my no dig book (on offer with the 2022 Calendar) and no dig online course. See the change in just six months with the two photos below.

A lovely result of no dig soil health, is the reduced need to rotate plantings. Grow more of what you wish to eat!

Mulching weeds early March, firstly cardboard overlapping, followed by compost on top

Six months later in early September — No dig transformation, this is xix months later in early September

No dig, no rotation, seventh year of cabbages and leeks in the same beds

Comparison of harvests

Our summers are scarcely hot enough to ripen sweet peppers, and this year there were no coloured fruits until September. It’s a meagre harvest for much time and effort – chilli peppers give more harvests, and earlier.

By comparison, cucumbers crop regularly from early July to early October. I pick the cordon plants of Carmen F1 every day through summer, for harvests of consistent length and quality, sold to shops in Bruton mostly.

Padron chilli pepper ripe and hot — This year the Padron chilli peppers have all been fiery!

Bendigo F1 sweet pepper and d'Asti Giallo behind — Gogorez sweet pepper and d’Asti Giallo behind, did not ripen until after mid September

Cucumber harvest 22nd September polytunnel, so productive compared to the peppers

Seed saving skills

From the beetroots, carrots and onions we planted as roots/bulbs in March, this is an example of the beetroot seed harvest from one plant.

You need to grow at least six plants in order to have a large pool of genes for cross pollination. This means a lot of space in the garden, and a lot of seed. It’s the first time I’ve saved seed from beetroot and I’m not sure of the quality in terms of root harvest. I am sure that germination is excellent, judging by all the beetroot seedlings growing where the seeding plants were!

Learn more about seeds, seed saving and propagation in this module of my Growing Success course.

Charles with one beetroot plant for seed — One of eight beetroot we popped into a bed in March, the best of last December’s Boltardy harvest

Charles winnows beetroot seed — In a gentle breeze, this is a great way to clean seed of the chaff and dust

Charles' beetroot seed after winnowing — Homesaved beetroot seed after winnowing, this from one plant

New no dig food garden at RHS HQ

Sheila Das manages all edible gardens at Wisley, as well as the education of students and apprentices. Since 2015 she has worked tirelessly to bring new understandings of soil, principally no dig, into the gardens and curriculum.

The new garden is testament to her efforts, and I am proud to have been her mentor for the no dig part of it. Wisley has seen quite a transformation and is worth a visit. I am giving a talk about no dig there, on 16th October as part of their Taste of Autumn event.

Sheila Das in Wisley's new edibles garden — Sheila Das in Wisley’s new edibles garden. She resisted calls to ‘incorporate’ the compost, and growth has been very strong

Rooftop view of Wisley edibles garden, designed by Anne-Marie Powell

October jobs

Continue to keep your plot as tidy as possible, to reduce habitat for slugs and snails. This includes keeping any edges as short as you can. Turn any compost heaps, just once, usually 6-8 weeks after adding the last materials. This is not obligatory, but improves quality.

Asparagus leaves are starting to go yellow and by the end of October you can cut the stems at ground level, then spread compost. If there are a lot of weeds, including say couch grass and buttercups, you could put cardboard on top of the weeds firstly, then an inch or so of compost on top of that. By April, the card is decomposed and spears can grow through.

The main sowing in October is garlic, then broad beans at month’s end, see my Sowing Calendar for more details.

Charles removing broccoli lower leaves — I’m removing the lower leaves from purple sprouting broccoli, before they fall down and accumulate slugs underneath

Mitch and Alessandro turning a compost heap at Homeacres — Mitch and Alessandro turning a 2.5 month old compost heap at Homeacres

Asparagus in it's first year from crowns planted April — Asparagus in it’s first year from crowns planted April. This bed has a bindweed challenge!

More news

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