Vegetabla Gardening In The Month Of October

Protect cauliflower heads from frost by covering with their own leaves.

Winter lettuce seedlings should be thinned of transplanted.

Finish blanching leeks and celery. 

Plant out spring cabbages. 

Jerusalem artichokes should be cut down as soon as they start to fade. Leave the tubers in the soil till you need them.

Check brassicas (cabbages, Brussels sprouts, etc.) and remove all yellow and decaying leaves.

All potatoes should be lifted by now.

Dig over vegetable plots as crops are harvested. Dead vegetation should be composted, but old brassica stumps should be burned.

Any marrows that remain should be cut from the parent plantand stored somewhere that isdry and free from frost.

Hardwood cuttings of herbs such as lavender and bay can be rooted. Put them in sand-filled pots, several together, and bring indoors or leave in a cold frame.

Force rhubarb for early shoots. Lift the roots and pack into moist compost in a large box. Make sure that the crowns are kept damp.

Lift beetroot and store out of doors, preferably inbetween layers of straw or bracken to allow the airto get to them. Top with a covering of soil.