Autumn Seasonal Salad, fresh from our backyard garden to fill our gut microbiome full of garden's microbes!

October 2024 Growing Tips

Dear Home Food Growers,

October is the month of transition and (unfortunately) we can see the change already with increasing rain coupled with cooler temperatures and wind. With daylight hours shortening, we focus on overwintering with the final plantings and keeping current plants protected from cooling temperatures and increasing wind.

 

Ensure you have fleece covers ready for cold temperatures and (stake) support systems in case of high wind.

1. What to Sow / Transplant?

For outdoors;

  • Winter Purslane and Corn Lettuce for fresh greens throughout winter - asap
  • Transplant Garlic cloves: October is the ideal time to plant garlic cloves, allowing them to establish roots before winter. This will result in a robust harvest the following summer. Make sure to pick the largest cloves to transplant for larger harvests.
  • Sow Broad Beans from last week of October or early November
  • You can optionally sow White Mustard as a cover crop to protect and enrich your soil over the winter. It grows quickly, suppressing weeds and adding organic matter when turned into the soil in spring. An alternative option is to cover your empty beds with compost mulch, helping to feed the soil with less work.

     For undercover / in the greenhouse, all plants above plus:

    • Sow Winter Purslane, Corn Lettuce, Rucola, Asian Greens asap for fresh greens throughout winter.
    • Transplant seedlings, or take a chance to sow asap, Lettuce, Endive and Spinach for winter and spring pickings. Kale, Chard, and Fennel to grow steadily under protection. Herbs such as Dill, Coriander, and Chervil. Spring Onion and Spring Cabbage to overwinter and ensure early spring harvests.
    • Transplant Garlic cloves
    • Wait for November to sow Broad Beans, as they may become too large of a size to overwinter

    Check out our favorite Autumn / Winter seed range for Organic & Demeter-certified collection here.

      A photo from seeds that are sown by our growers from the 7 September workshop at MOES Tuinen - so proud of the many seedlings that will be grown during Autumn / Winter

      2. What seeds to get ready for November?

      • Garlic Cloves: You have time to transplant Garlic until end December, but preferably between mid-October to mid-November is best time before heavy frost
      • Broad Beans: You can sow them during November which will give them a head start, allowing them to establish before winter and providing an early crop in spring. It also helps with reducing pests such as black flies before summer arrives. Alternatively, you can sow them in January to transplant in February, which will crop later

      3. Jobs to be Done

      • Harvest your veggies: Important to harvest regularly your summer vegetables to encourage final ripening and fruits, while clearing finished plants to make space for final seedlings of the season. We love the sight of our final summer vegetables here at MOES Tuinen greenhouse garden
      • Addressing diseases and frost: As we move into October, most of the tomatoes show blight in leaves as well as stems. If you spot them, remove the plant and already transplant the new Autumn / Winter seedlings next to the plants. Most of the frost-sensitive plants will die with first frost; cucumbers, beans, zucchini, aubergine. Therefore make sure to have your new seedlings ready to plug in
      • Maintain your soil with compost: Autumn to Winter is a perfect time to maintain your soil in your garden beds. Adding 2-3cm compost to empty spots and underneath your summer veggies before transplanting the overwintering vegetables is a great way to introduce nutrition to your soil naturally. Check out our post here for tips on how to apply compost in your beds.
      • De-weeding: Regularly check and remove weeds to proactively manage your beds

        4. Harvests & Seasonal Chef tips

        • Pickling: It's time for some pickling with that summer taste! The key ingredient is tannins, which keep your harvest crunchy! Find our inspiration here.
        • Autumn salads: Want to try 30-plant a week challenge to improve your microbiome health? Check out our Autumn Seasonal Salad recipe here.

        Our delicious Autumn Seasonal Salad to fill our gut full of garden's microbes! Freshly harvested and cooked with chard, zucchini, roasted carrots and pickled beets and cucumber, topped with beans for some vegetarian protein power. Lastly, some sweet taste with ripe blackberries and apples from our tree.
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