What’s happening in the Somerset West Village Garden this OCTOBER

October is my best month in the garden. It is such a delight to see how everything grows as the daylight hours increase. One can literally see the spinach growing. The garden is looking beautiful. The broad beans are flowering and the pods are fattening up nicely, we picked our first beans last week. They are wonderful for serving as a side to a lamb roast, mashed on toast with a soft poached egg and my favourite broad bean risotto, our staple meatless Monday meal during the season.

Our sugar snap peas are bearing profusely. They are so sweet and juicy, delicious eaten raw or grilled quickly in a grill pan and served with feta, chopped mint and a drizzle of olive oil.

Carrots and lettuce are being harvested as well as the last of our turnips and spring onions. 

The tomato and aubergine seedlings have popped up and will be planted out in another week or two. The beds are being prepared by applying lots of compost, Humigro from Andermatt Madumbi and Bio Rock Root Builder from Atlantic fertilizers.

We have planted gem squash and baby marrows and have sown radishes in between them to ward off the pumpkin fly.

Although the garden is still quite damp we are getting ready for the heat of summer by putting lots of compost on the planted beds and covering them with mulch. This year we will be using dried lucerne as mulch. It assists the soil by building up organic matter and provides nutrients to the plant roots. It has a high nitrogen content which aids other organic material in the decomposition process.

Mulching is so important and beneficial in many ways. It improves the quality of the soil which in turn, improves the health of the plants. It has insulating properties - Spring and Autumn are the best time to mulch because the soil isn’t too hot or cold. It stabilizes the soil, conserves water and keeps the weeds at bay.

Our early onions have been sown and have germinated well. We will wait until the seedlings are as thick as a pencil, before transplanting into the beds that have been prepared with generous amounts of compost, Bio Rock Root Builder and Humigro. 

We use crop rotation in our garden. This is incredibly important to preserve the soil; it keeps disease at bay and gives each crop the best chance of growth. Crop rotation is usually spread over four years and goes like this….

Brassicas followed by beans followed by spinach, tomatoes, aubergines (night shades) followed by root crops (carrots, beetroot, parsnips)

We are continuing to sow green beans, lettuce, carrots and beetroot. These crops are sown directly into the beds and to ensure we have a continuous supply we stagger our sowings. As soon as the first seedlings are up, we sow the next bed of seeds.

We continue to make heaps of compost so that we have enough to use during the coming Summer.

Experience the communal effort and sustainable practices at the Somerset West Village Garden, where we are not only cultivating a garden but also fostering a vibrant community.

Every Tuesday, we hold our market from 09:00-11:00, Where we sell our freshly picked, organic produce.

You are welcome to visit the garden to see what we are doing. We are open Monday – Friday from 09:00-12:00 when there will be somebody to show you around.