Let planting and sowing take center stage this month, as we look to not only our summer tables, but our winter pantries as well. October is one of the busiest months, but well worth the effort. Dig in! It’s a job well suited to many hands, and a good deal of patience, for we must wait for the season to turn, before planting summer crops.
Most important are the long term crops like pumpkins, yams, peppers and kumara. Temperatures must be warm enough – they won’t thank you for cold feet!
If waiting gets too arduous, or time feels like its slipping away – fake up some heat and provide extra protection – my simple ways are in this month’s newsletter. There’s no hurry at this stage – its only the 1st of October, and every day we shift ever more towards the sun.
Kick your boots off and garden barefoot for an intimate, direct line to the warming of your soil (and so much more goodness besides).
Yours in the earth,
❤️ Kath
Hi Kath,
Iv been reading your website non stop , thank you so much! It’s so easy to follow and learn.
I have been reading about your mulch paths.
We have a huge couch problem. I have tried the no dig method with it for the past two years and I am over it. We have quite a large area and it just gets too much and takes over.
We have a digger coming in to do some work and I am thinking of getting the digger to dig it out . Do you think that after digging it out and then laying cardboard and wood mulch (what about wool as well as we live in a farm?) will be enough for it not to come back.
I am so scared of doing a heap of work and then it taking over the garden again, I will be devastated. Thanks for any advice.
Hi Kellie
Ahhh couch – yes its a beast, perennial creeping weeds are the hardest of all. It takes time to reduce its impact. A digger will break it into thousands of little axillary buds ready to grow into new plants so no I wouldnt recommend doing that though understand the wish for a quick fix. Much depends Kellie on your soil and situation, sometimes a re design of the garden is required. Are there couch free areas you can migrate your vegies to? If not get rid of hard edges that hold the couch roots in place and get a forksta from crafty gatherer and lever out the rhizomes and burn them up, then immediately resow the area with clover, legumes and tap roots like parsley or daikon. It may be better for you to have living pathways of clover. Make your peace with it. Its there, and its part of your garden and you can ease it, but it will take time. Find a way to ease your mind and enjoy gardening with it. If you want to work through in more detail book a coach session and send me a sketch of your garden as per the instructions. Otherwise, wish you the best K