October

Any spring month is a busy time for the vegetable gardener. It is time to sow summer vegetables. This month the sun really makes an appearance and it will seem like the seedlings are growing before your eyes.

Special attention
Mound up and stake pea plants before they fall over. Mound up earth around asparagus plants as they grow.
Make sure the ground has drained properly before sowing any seeds to prevent rot.

Sow
Sow a few lettuce seeds every couple of weeks. Keep up a supply of salad crops, such as parsley, parsnips, peas, spinach and turnips.

Sow broccoli, cabbage, carrots, Florence fennel, leeks, lettuce, radish, silver beet and tomatoes.

Sow courgettes, cucumbers, pumpkins and squashes in compost-filled holes.

Plant a packet of basil seeds and keep covered with glass bottles or cloches until they are big enough to go in the garden around your tomato plants.

Plant other herbs like caraway, chamomile, chervil, coriander, dill, lemon balm, marjoram, oregano, rosemary, tarragon, thyme and yarrow.

Transplant
Plant out the celery plants on a bed of compost-rich soil. Plant out August tomato seedlings in warm positions. Watch for slugs.

Divide up lemongrass roots and re-pot for summer growth. Keep well watered.

Take root or stem cuttings from aloe vera, bergamot, hyssop, lemon balm, mint and thyme.

Protect
Preventatively spray potatoes against blight, if your garden is prone to this.

Fertilise
Apply dressings of liquid fertiliser every two weeks, to encourage growth of leafy crops.

Harvest
Beetroot, broad beans, broccoli, cabbage, carrots, leeks, lettuce, early potatoes, silver beet and spinach from winter sowings should all be ready for picking.

Asparagus spears are ready and needed to be cut now.