Monthly Garden Chores for October- East Coast Edition

This is a guest post written by my buddy Heather from Massachusetts. I thought it would be fun this year to post Monthly Garden Chores from both the West Coast and East Coast.I never noticed how acutely the temperature changed until this year. Probably because I’ve got so many tomato plants loaded with fruit that I’m anxious to keep. On the upside, we’ve gotten a whole summer’s worth of rain in the last couple of weeks {it seems} so the yards are all spectacularly green and the fall colors that New England is famous for are in full effect.

I’m feeling pretty good about this summer’s garden results and production this year as it was probably my first, truly, successful year. My soil is rock solid and I will once again add manure and leaves to my boxes as they’ve compressed over the summer’s use.  I’ve canned, dried and frozen my produce and herbs to my little heart’s content within the very millisecond of free time I had available after work, kids, sports, meals and life. And finally, the backyard is looking less like a baron square with boxes and more like a sculptured, oasis of flowers, fruits and veggies. Fine, I might be feeling a liiittttle nostalgic with the impending frost we’ll no doubt get this month, but can you blame me? Summer in New England is just beautiful.

Seeds I’m Starting Indoors this Month

Garlic! The garlic is in the ground and with the copious amount of rain we’re getting I’m sure it’s settled in nicely. When the leaves start falling I’ll pile them on and they’ll be cozy until spring. I bought red clover to use as a cover crop but 7 of my 9 boxes are still actively growing so I may wait until early spring.What I Plan to Transplant Outside this Month

Does transplanting horse manure into my boxes count? I’ve got three people lined up to hand over massive amounts of bagged leaves in a week or two. I’ll put a good amount of leaves in my garden boxes and save several bags as entertainment for the chickens through the winter. My friend Perry has promised me a trailer-full of composted horse manure for my boxes also. It’s excitement over the trailer-full of manure that surprises me – it’s all in the little things. 😉

The enchineacea I planted last spring is doing pretty well so I moved it to the base of this tree stump hoping it will grow around it next year. It’ll soften the look of the stump and I’m hoping to harvest the flowers next year.The cold box is … a work in progress. The thing is – everything I build is just “wingin’ it,” and I’m not sure that will work this time so I’m procrastinating until I can figure it out. Luckily I still have a month before I’ll really need to have the lid done. I’ll fill you in on all the juicy details, but for now I’ve got three successive planting in so I’m still in good shape.

Plants and/or Bulbs I Plan to Purchase this Month

I ordered ginseng seeds last spring and they just came in! The timing is perfect though as they need stratification so planting them in the fall will allow nature to do it’s thing for next spring. Now I have to get to it and cut a border around our deck, enhance the soil a bit, stuff it with leaves, plant my seeds and mulch with leaves again and wait patiently for spring. Patiently… yeah, right.

What I plan to Harvest This Month

I might get a few more weeks left to harvest herbs and the remainder of my tomato lot. I plan to harvest chamomile, tomatoes, Swiss chard, eggplant, carrots, lemon balm, more tomatoes, thyme, rosemary, mint, and oregano. My dehydrator has been busy, busy, busy dehydrating herbs, apples, bananas {oof, super messy}, pineapple, and sunflower seeds.
Houseplants and Indoor Bulbs

I’ve begun stalking the weather station for their best guesses on frost dates. Along with watching for the frost date, I’ve been watching the “lows.”  When it looks like it will be 30* or below consistently I’ll move my lil’ trooper lemon back inside as well as a few other houseplants that have been living the good life on the deck all summer.

Trees and Shrubs

This is the time of the year to mulch your fragile or newly planted perennials and/or shrubs/trees/bushes. It may seem like going overboard but a little care could pay off come February when we have 4 feet of snow and they are appreciating their canopy of mulch. I’ll mulch my lavender hedge and blueberry plants for sure.

Weed and Pest Control

The chickens are doing a bang-up job in this department. There is a newly cleared area behind the garden that I just didn’t get to develop this season, and the chicken’s looove it back there. So, I open the door to their chicken tractor  and they march right in, then I drag it over to the cleared area and they go to town doing what chickens do – scratching and turning up the weeds and their roots as they find prizes to eat.

Lawn Care

Mid-Oct. is your end date for putting your lawn to bed for spring. Aerate {core is better than pine} and seed. Then fertilize. Better yet – pay the teenager to do it for you! 😉

Every trip downstairs to my “loot room” where I store what I’ve canned/dried or frozen from my little garden, in my very little amount of extra time, and I’m feeling pretty proud of myself *insert pat on back*.

What have you accomplished this garden season that you are most proud of? Let us know, we’re always looking for more ideas of ways to get the most out of our gardens!

**These garden chores are based on my Zone 5b Southeast/Boston MA location. Find your garden zone HERE.