4 minute read
How's Your Garden October/November 2023
BY LOIS TRIGG CHAPLIN
DON’T FORGET THE SPINACH!
Spinach doesn’t like heat, but the mild days of fall are perfect to encourage new growth. The easiest way to start spinach is to set out Bonnie transplants because spinach is notoriously tricky from seed. Seed is slow to sprout and germination rate is lower than many other crops. If you do start from seed, use fresh. They do best. Soak overnight to speed germination. In North Alabama, cover plants with a row cover or cold frame to encourage plenty of growth as the weather cools. Once established, plants withstand frosts down to about 20 degrees. Growth may be slow as the days get shorter, but plants will take off as the days begin to lengthen again for a bountiful winter and early spring crop.
TROPICALS GO BACK IN
Those houseplants outside for the summer will appreciate a little TLC as they go back indoors before frost. First trim off dead or damaged leaves and stems. Most plants will need a good shower to rinse dust and grime from their leaves. The big leaves of spathiphyllum and fiddle leaf fig shine up nicely with a soft cloth. Wipe the pots to prepare them for table tops again, and clean out the saucers. Sounds gross, but I always check the bottoms of pots and the underside saucers for slugs, snails, and roach eggs. Also
be sure to inspect very carefully for aphids, mites, or scale, three of the most common houseplant pests. Treat those plants and then isolate them indoors to prevent the pests from spreading to other plants. To make watering through winter more convenient, group the plants when possible.
SUCH A PRETTY HARVEST
Roll out the wheelbarrow for the last harvest before frost because it is always more than you think. Picking warm season plants clean makes for a big harvest and enough to make green tomato jelly, pepper jelly, and the like. It’s also a good time to make final summer garden notes about specific varieties, timing of pest or disease outbreaks, and other things that are important to keep up with the garden over the years. I also make my wish list for next year for needs such as a seed starting mix, sprinkler, replacement tomato stakes, garden snips, etc. These make good answers when a loved one asks for Christmas gift ideas.
HARVEST FLOWER SEED
Fall is a good time to harvest seeds of favorite summer flowering annuals and perennials. Zinnia, annual and perennial sunflowers, tickseed, cosmos, cleome, and coneflowers are good examples. Pick the seed pods or seeds when they are dry, not when wet from dew or rain. You can store them in a paper bag for a while to be sure that they completely dry then transfer to a glass canning jar. I keep a silicone packet in each to help keep the air inside the jar dry. Store in a cool, dark, dry place.
WINTER LESSONS
I’m remembering the Christmas freeze from last year as I sow lettuce seeds for this fall and winter. Three continuous days below freezing and two nights below ten degrees was a test for the plants. And me! Fortunately, we had planted some of our lettuce in double-walled polycarbonate cold frames. By covering the cold frames with the additional protection of a frost cloth we were able to protect everything inside— lettuces, kale, fennel, parsley, and cilantro. Plants under a low tunnel did not fare as well, even with a double cover of Agribon-30 frost cloth and a sheet of plastic. A few varieties made it, so they are now regulars for fall planting; these are Rouxai, Tango, and Landis Winter lettuces. I also piled pine straw over each of the Bonnie celery plants deeply enough to hide the young, 8-inch-tall plants completely. They showed some superficial damage to the leaves, but the crown and stalks were fine. So this winter, I am prepared with more pine straw, an extra cold frame, and the same successful varieties.
