- Author: Kathy Low
Even though summer has ended, there's still a ton of tasks for gardeners this month. In October you should continue to clean up any fruit that has fallen to the ground and to remove any fruit mummies left on the tree to help minimize diseases. Clean up and discard any old vegetables left on the ground to prevent insects and diseases from overwintering in them. Once your summer vegetable plants are no longer producing, remove them and place them in your compost pile.
It's not too late to seed some winter vegetables, and to add soil amendments to your soil to prepare your beds for your winter garden. Some winter vegetables that can still be seeded this month include fava beans, Swiss chard, collards, endive, peas, and radishes.
Or if you are not planning on growing winter vegetables, it's also not too late to seed a cover crop. Cover crops add nitrogen and ultimately add organic matter to your soil. They increase water penetration into your soil, and improve your soil's tilth. Sample cover crops include fava and bell beans, crimson and berseem clovers. More information on cover crops can be found at www.sarep.ucdavis.edu.
If they've finished blooming, it's time to dig up, divide and replant overgrown perennials.
Since October brings Halloween, followed by Thanksgiving and Christmas in December, it's time to consider attending the annual Master Gardeners Wreath Workshop. Held the first Saturday of December, participants will be supplied with instructions and all the materials to make a wreath. And the registration fee supports the UC Master Gardener (Solano) program. Keep your eye on the Master Gardener website (solanomg.ucanr.edu) for upcoming registration details.