You can still sow during this time, especially if you provide some protection. About what can and cannot withstand the cold, harvesting your own seeds, and enjoying the autumn.
Autumn in the MM - early October
Yup, summer's over.
Nice weather this week. And the coming week doesn't look bad either.
Although the real nice weather is over now. Here in Groningen, the rain occasionally poured down and the leaves on the trees are starting to change color here and there. It's really autumn.
Oh well, that has its charm:
Spiderwebs and morning mist
In our boxes at the office, there are already quite a few empty patches. However, we still eat from the garden every day. No tomatoes - because we already removed those last week - but still various other vegetables.
Yesterday, I harvested the 31st zucchini from the plant in the March 1st box. And it looks like it will continue for a while:
The 31st zucchini from the March 1st harvest box
En zo te zien gaan de klimcourgettes ook nog wel even door:
Er groeien nog steeds nieuwe courgettes.
Although this is an exception, because the plants in the other beds are not doing so well. One has already died and another is producing much fewer fruits.
But even this plant is deteriorating more and more. Many leaves are already affected by powdery mildew. Occasionally, fruits also fall off that no longer want to ripen.
The kale plants are still doing fine - although we are not the only ones who are fans of them:
Caterpillar on the kale
We use the leaves for stir-frying: it's delicious with some onions, mushrooms, rice, and an egg. My favourite is kale soup.
And what do you think of the raspberries?
Still plenty of raspberries to pick.
However, you can already see that it is autumn. Leaves are changing color and falling off, and some plants will now quickly die.
We are already doing a lot of cleaning up. Like the faded sunflowers, bolted lettuce plants, and all the plants that are either half eaten or simply no longer want to grow.
And yes: they are always there, but more so at this time of year.
Tidying up a bit
Although the beds are far from empty. In the knowledge base, you can read which vegetables you can leave for a long time and which ones you should harvest now:
Another option is to plant garlic and red and yellow winter onions. They can withstand the cold well and do not need to be covered. Only if it freezes hard for a longer period of time, but we haven't seen that in years.
Planting garlic and winter onions: now is the perfect time
Besides sowing and eating from the vegetable garden, it is also super fun to harvest your own seeds for next year. Sometimes it's very simple, sometimes you have to do a little more.
Seeds of marigolds, calendula, and the licorice plant
Die dille laat ik niet voor niets zien, want we hoorden net dat onze bestelling bij de zadenleverancier niet doorgaat.
Da's jammer, want we zijn bijna door onze voorraad heen. Maar blijkbaar is de oogst van de zaden volledig mislukt, en krijgen we pas eind 2026 (!) weer nieuwe zakjes.
Dus als je nog wat dille in je tuin hebt staan, dan is het best slim om daarvan wat zaadjes te oogsten.
Dille-zaadjes oogsten
En als je dan toch bezig bent, kun je net zo goed ook nog wat andere zaadjes oogsten. Bijvoorbeeld van de afrikaantjes, goudsbloemen en de dropplant. Want ook die hebben de mooiste tijd nu echt wel gehad.
Zaadjes van ons afrikaantje
Zaadjes van bloemen zijn het eenvoudigst te oogsten, maar van veel van onze groentes kan het ook.
Starting today, the pages for October are back on the site. With tips for this time of year, what you can still sow, and whether it's still worth starting.
Hopefully the weather will remain fairly good in the coming time and you can still spend a lot of time outdoors. Beautiful sunny autumn days: would love it 🙂
Sunflower not yet fully bloomed.
That was it for today
In the next email - around the end of October - I will show you how to prepare your Makkelijke Moestuin for the winter season.
Till then!
Sunflowers can still bloom in October
PS: Enjoying your vegetable garden this fall?
Share your Planty adventures on Facebook or Instagram and add the hashtag #plantygarden. Can’t wait to see what you’ve got 🙂
