In October the first cool fronts start to work their way into southeast Texas, and the pumpkins appear in bins next to the watermelon bins at the grocery store. It may be cool today, but hot weather isn’t far away, and can rear it’s head at any time. Still, for me October is the beginning of the holiday season, as the hints of cooler wetter weather trigger thoughts of Halloween, Thanksgiving, and of course Christmas. It’s also a prime gardening time in Texas. Autumn leaves may or may not give us a colorful show, it’s always hit or miss in this part of the south, but the leaves will turn brown and fall regardless, and offer a tremendous gift of mulch, and compost for the year ahead. Besides rain, it’s nature’s biggest free gift to the gardener. Collect as many leaves as you can and save them for mulching beds, adding to compost piles, or even incorporate them into new garden beds in a method known as sheet composting, and by spring you’ll have a rich garden soil. It’s time to get the cool weather crops into the ground, so don’t delay.
Above: In Texas, and most of the south, we can always tell it’s Autumn because they start selling the funny orange watermelons. If you want pumpkins by Halloween, it’s too late. You should have planted them in August.
Here is a planting list for October.
Vegetables:
Plant from seed: Beets, Bok Choy, Broccoli, Cabbage, Carrots, Cauliflower, Swiss Chard, Chinese (Napa) Cabbage, Kale, Lettuce, Mustard Greens, Turnip Greens, Artichoke, Brussels Sprouts, Celery, Daikon Radishes, Endive, Fennel, Leeks, Parsnip, Red Radish, Rutabaga,
Other Herbs, Spices, and Flavorings:
From seed: Cilantro, Dill, Fennel, Garlic Chives, Nasturtium, Parsley, Sugar Cane
Fruit and Nut Trees, Vines, and Berries:
Bare root plants: October is a good time to to set out strawberry plants. Water them in and mulch them well to conserve moisture.
Wild Flowers and Native Plants:
October is the best month to plant Wildflower seeds. Prepare the ground by raking away any leaves or grass. The best procedure is to remove all grass and weeds and lightly till the soil. Distribute the seeds and rake them in lightly then water well to ensure good soil content. Even though it isn’t recommended, I will lightly distribute some leaf mulch over the top to protect the seeds from birds, heavy rain and drying out. Just make sure they don’t dry out for too long, but don’t over water either. They are wildflowers after all, so they should be fairly resilient.
General Garden Information:
Collect all the Autumn leaves you can for use throughout the upcoming year. Autumn leaves are the perfect cold weather mulch, and are ideal for use in compost piles as the winter progresses. Left over leaves can be distributed among the beds and turned into the soil to add organic material. It can also be used in sheet composting to build garden soil. Just don’t let this free fertilizer get hauled away to a landfill, that would be a waste.