You either hate October or love it.
Your vegetable patch, or if you are lucky vegetable garden, or as my late father in law called his tiny patch his 'farm' is now really ready to prepare for next year's crops.
Make a start now, and clear all crops and dig vacant ground.
Pea and bean haulm can go on the compost heap.
I hope you haven't been using one of these simply awful plastic bean nets, because you will have fun rescuing the net from the beans, then that could be a full day in itself.
Next year use canes and perhaps garden twine it is ecologically better as well as easier!! Plant out spring cabbage on firm soil, and earth up leeks and celery for the last time.
It is also time to cut your marrows and hang them in nets.
Pick your tomatoes and let them finish ripening under cloches or on a sunny window-sill.
You must continue to remove discoloured leaves from brassicas.
Your onions should have dried off enough by now to rope them and hang them in a cool place, then finally hoe down the weeds between all growing crops.
Returning to the fruit trees and bushes.
Hardwood cuttings (9-10 ins.
long) of gooseberries and black­currants should be taken and inserted 6 ins.
deep in a sheltered position outdoors.
Peaches should be sprayed at leaf fall with lime sulphur against leaf curl.
All unwanted runners from strawberries should be removed, and recently planted runners must not be allowed to dry out.
Gardeners looking for a new fruit tree should consider the quince that needs little attention and presents pretty pink flowers and lovely yellow pear-shaped fruit, that are such an addition to apple tart.
Happy in sun or semi-shade, it is self-fertile, and flowering late usually escapes the frost.