Welcome to October in my Ohio garden! This October garden tour & update shares what is still growing in the garden, some variety highlights as well as challenges and upcoming projects in the garden.
I am growing in Zone 6a (first frost date of approx. mid-Oct.), mid-western Ohio, and focus on growing things I love to eat (vegetables, fruits & herbs), with flowers thrown in primarily for the pollinators & beneficial insects.
I’m glad you’re here!
Related videos:
Cool season cover crops to plant in the fall: https://youtu.be/wURdgSVRpFU
Best way to summer sow carrots: https://youtu.be/Vmkb8njZ2f0
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22 Comments
We use the bucket and sunflower seed method to get rid of red squirrels and chipmunks. We got around 14 this year
Hey Jenna,
Biggest things I learn this year is certain things like mustard, spinach, and peas grows much better during late summer to fall, as the mustard and spinach aren't bolting quickly like they do in spring.
I don't get too many insect pests in my garden to become a big problem, but leaf miners was the major problem with the swisschard and spinach this year, so next year I'll be using garden netting.
I finally learned succession planting this year. I removed most of the indeterminate tomato plants that are past their best and the bolted vegetables to allow room to sow new fall crops, this has been big improvement in productivity of the garden. I practically didn't buy any leafy greens from the super market all summer this year, I want to keep stretching this benefit from now on.
None of my pepper plants got any diseases this year, this is quite a revelation because it was a rough season for tomatoes. Next year I am growing less massive indeterminate tomato plants to allow space for more peppers.
I discovered is that it's possible to grow two rounds of tomatoes within the 6 warm months of Ohio growing season. I wanted to try new variety so I started tomato seeds in early August. I noticed the plants grow significantly quicker than compared to spring time. Now after 60 days they already have fruits waiting to ripe. So next year I will start a second round by mid-July, in order to give enough time before the frost come.
This also made me realize one thing, that is most people that I share my tomato plants to don't have very much success because they were indeterminate variety, which require more experience and resources to grow. My project next season is to grow more early and determinate variety that do well in smaller containers.
Lastly, I finally realized what a waste of space my strawberry plants are, being june bearing it is such as small harvest. They are getting thrown out and replaced with potatoes next year.
With careful planning I'm realizing it is possible to grow year round in Ohio, just need low tunnel and very cold tolerant plants like kale, and have a proper indoor growlights setup. I'm growing microdwarf tomatoes and trying to see if I can grow jalapeno completely from seeds indoor.
Thank you for sharing your experiences.
Its my first yr watching your show . Luv it. We also had fun little surprises as well. We did some.of your fall things in July to get done but it was a fun experiment but things didn't work but it's all good my boy and I are the gardeners. Daughter is not. We pulled out some huge watermelons.
DH turned my rotting cedar raised beds into Trex decking attached to 5×5 posts. The posts rot after many years but the Trex only is reusable. Old water troughs are nice raised beds where there is shade. Your garden is inspiring! Extreme drought conditions and $300 water bills to keep the foundation from cracking more. Add a windstorm that took down 10 power poles and 1" hail just two weeks ago…perfect end to this year!
You have such a very nice garden! I always enjoy your tours. Our gardens here in NNY are done except my Italian Sage (5th year) and Thyme (1st year), are still in great shape. The Comfrey is three years old and so is the Mixed Salvia. Still looking good. The bumble bees are still having a great time on the Borage. Harvesting is done and everything else that is left is dying back. I have never seen that kind of bugs that are on your pepper. Have a great weekend! Take care!
Just a beautiful garden! What a green thumb!!
Love your garden and content. Wish my garden was as vibrant as yours. I am an avid container gardener. Best wishes and Happy Gardening from New Mexico zone 6.
Will be watching your results on testing chipmunk trapping. I’ve had decent results it’s the bucket/plank.
Hey Jenna I garden up in Euclid Oh., a zone 6 area. It is a community garden and we have a couple of hazel nut bushes that are producing about 3 years after planting in. The fall colors are a bright red. Also a plum variety that at this time I have no info. on, but it produced a heavy return of fruit. I will send info about that tree within 2weeks time. I have seen a hairless kiwi, that looks like a grape size and also a bush type that can be prune out. You translate some quality info. Keep Trucking you do a good service to hungry ears. Steve L.
I didn't realize that AAS Winners had its own web site! What was I thinking? Of course they have a website. It's not the 20th century after all!
Huge winners for me in the cherry tomato variety were Sunrise Bumble Bee and Chocolate Pear; great performers were the San Marzano and Rainbow beefsteak (can’t quite recall the exact name) 6b here in Charleston WV!
It sounds like Climate Change is making your gardening life tough.
I'm in southern Indiana & I have a lot of the keeled tree hoppers (tried to figure out the name but couldn't ever figure it out, so ty!) I usually notice them on my sunflowers. I've never seen them on peppers. I never noticed any damage so I had never tried to get rid of them so I don't know about anything that works to kill them.
That pumpkin was smiling up at you. I swear it looked like a face. And I’m coveting your beets. I can never seem to get mine past the seedling phase in my stock tanks. Last year in frustration I just dumped a packet of old seeds in a part of our yard that was a work in progress and also sowed some buckwheat. When I was cleaning up the buckwheat I found about 15 decent size beets which were partially eaten by a ground critter. I wanted to cry.
I was super excited to see the October Tour vid. My nerdy self has been waiting for this one. I'm sure you're already familiar with the Birdies Raised Beds, but just in case, I'm betting you could find the sizes you want for replacements. For the critter traps, Made2Catch has a rat trap that should do nicely. It's a standard spring style, but the entire thing is made of galvanized steel, and it's literally got teeth, so watch your fingers. Or you could get a cat or five.😁 My garden is pretty much done for the year, and I"m getting ready to expand a bit, so nothing will be done other than the building. I am, however, taking care of a friend's garden, and we've taken some cues from you, and built some eighteen inch high mounds, about thirty feet long, and growing some cool weather crops in those. We built some shorter versions for tomatoes this summer, mostly to keep things up out of the water that tends to drench the space, and the tomatoes were absolutely insane this year. Gotta thank you for that idea. Thanks for the video. Can't wait to see what you have next.
We saw the leaf hoppers for the first time this year as well on our eggplants, I didn't notice the larva, just the adults. For a perennial disease free plant how about a persimmon? Maybe not looking for a tree but we grew a Nikita's Gift persimmon at our previous property and it was a beautiful, super low maintenance plant that we got a ton of fruit on year 3. Only downside is it is borderline planting zone wise for us so might want some protection. Thanks again for the tour!
Tap in some rebar around the existing boards to help pin them in place and then wrap in the metal you mentioned. You definitely want to do what you can to stabilize those boards if they are going to stay in place. That's what I would do in your position.
I picked most of my remaining green tomatoes tonight. We might get a frost near Cleveland later this week. But honestly, these plants were really far gone, and I’m tired. It’s time to wrap things up for the year.
I had the same problem with beds that coming apart and bowling after about four years. My husband added corner supports. And then cross boards with heavy screws to address the bowing. They are two more years in and doing well still. It would be a good solution for you!
Loved the tour. Do this every year please
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