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Yes,
October is for lovers. Garden lovers, that is. This is the time of year
that I love to go out into my garden and harvest seeds for next year,
get my tender perennials prepared for winter, find what fall surprises
have volunteered and observe the birds and butterflies that are passing
through on their way to Mexico and beyond.
Right
now, you should be raking out old mulch and placing it into your compost
pile. You should also add fresh compost to your garden beds and then
plant them. Then add fresh mulch and a little time released fertilizer
to your plants to give them a boost.
By
now, you are seeing mums, violas and pansies in the nurseries and at
your local Quality Co-op. You are also seeing a lot of fall vegetables
and herbs. October is the perfect time to get your cool weather veggies
and herbs into the ground. Some of your choices for herbs are: thyme,
parsley, garden sage, cilantro and don’t forget rosemary! Rosemary is
one of my favorite herbs because it starts blooming this time of year. I
like both the upright and the prostrate rosemary. They each have a
culinary value and produce beautiful blue blooms. The prostrate rosemary
has a creeping tendency and makes a great accent plant to add to your
flowerbeds.
Speaking
of accent plants, try curled parsley planted with your mums and pansies
to give your flowerbeds a bright green accent. Also, oregano makes a
great groundcover around your flowers. Swiss Chard and Pak Choi (or Bok
Choy) makes good-looking colorful plants for height and color.
Have
you ever thought of using lettuce as an ornamental? I do it all the time
and October is the perfect time to plant it. Not only do you get to
experience the beautiful colors of shades of green and purple, you can
eat it too!
OK.
Here are a couple of recipes to try. Make your basic potato soup recipe.
Add Swiss chard for color and a little Pak Choi for a slight
cabbage-like flavor. Offer a double pinch of fresh oregano, a sprig of
thyme (to be removed before serving) and cook all together. Then add
lots of Italian parsley as your soup is served. Salt and pepper to
taste. This makes a great fall warm up soup!
Try
this one for me. Harvest a mix of lettuce varieties. Add fresh baby
spinach, arugula, fresh garlic chives, parsley and a little cilantro to
taste. This makes a salad that is so mouth watering you won’t even
need a dressing. It also has zero carbs, calories or fat!
October
is for lovers who love gardening and who love eating. That’s me in a
nutshell!
For
more on these and other gardening tips go to HGTradio.net
or listen to Home Grown Tomatoes every Saturday morning on 101.1 FM The
Source. Happy October Everybody!
Kenn
Alan presents the radio show “Home Grown Tomatoes” every Saturday
morning on101.1 FM and offers gardening tips at HGTradio.net. |
