for the pruning OCTOBER

hi all,
september has run away and we are now into october already. e-gads! time flies!
so, the wee gardeneing speel is a few days late, but better late than never (christine if you read this tonight run out to the garden and chuck some root vege in. quick hurry!) the past two days where the perfect time to plant root crops according to the moon cycle calendar. the next lot can go in later this month on the 22nd and 23rd, so dont fret too much if you missed out this time around.
today i planted more carrots, beetroot and my seed potato that i had been sprouting not all that successfully for the past two months. much to my dismay freya and bo found them sitting on the window sill and thought it was a rather nice activity to snap the young shoots off the main potatoes. so, i am not too optimistic as to how my crop will fare. fingers crossed though. nothing like new potatoes fresh from the garden, boiled in minted water and served with butter, chopped mint and a sprinkle of salt! to get a good go for your potatoes, dig a 30cm deep hole and pop said sprouted potato in, cover with about 10 cm dirt. once the shoots come up out of the dirt, add another 10 cm, and keep piling it up. i will go until it is about 20 cm above the start level and hope for bountiful crops of tender treats to feast on. handy hint from nz gardener - they like a little seaweed, so make yourself the nice seaweed concoction from below and add it to the mix come liquid feeding time.
i also put in some purple potato a few months back. i hear this variety tries to turn the others, so if you are planting them be sure to keep them WELL away from your other crops. i have mine in a big pot about fifteen meters distance away in the flower garden, so hopefully this is far enough. i do love the colour of purple potatoes but find the flavour is not as grand so a few in a roast salad brings a bit of party colour while the other veges pack the taste punch quota.

from the 3rd onward leave off the sowing and start preparing your soil. dig in manure, compost and any other goodies that you may have waiting to get into your dirt to give your plants a good heaping of nutrients.i have added nitra-phoska blue to give a little extra pep but if you are going strictly organic leave it off.

from october 8th it gets busy, plant leafy vege such as silver beet and spinach, lettuce (i have about 4 different varieties that i will be planting out once a month from now on to insure a constant supply of fresh green over summer) then from the tenth pop in any fruiting vege that you desire. i will be going mad on peas this year as i love nothing better than snacking in the garden, especially on peas. and strawberries. and raspberries. well.... pretty much anything, but last year my ma had a rather impressive amount of peas in her garden and i was outside every 30 minutes scoffing another hand full while we were there over christmas leave. peas. the. best. ever.
so, i am planting peas of a few varieties, sweetcorn, beans of  different varieties, pottin up my 4 different varieties of heritage tomato seed in a nice snug place so that any lingering frost wont nail them and leave me in tears and having a general hunt around for any other vege that my heart fancies to plonk in the dirt.
stop your mad sowing on the 14th.

15th - 17th is time to liquid feed everything. worm farms are amazing, so is seaweed tea. just collect a bunch form a beach near you, rinse the salty water off and shove it in a covered container to permeate. this year is my first time trying this but i am expecting big things from that stinky bin!

as stated before, get more root crops in on the 22nd and 23rd.

grab a hoe and stop those pesky weeds from the 24th til the 27th, then kick back and relax for a while.

sorry - no pictures.
i am camera-less for a wee while. sob.

happy gardening all.

xx