It’s hard to believe it’s almost October, my favorite time of year. The days are warm and clear and dry, the nights are cool, and so far we’re not getting too much wildfire smoke. It’s a great time for work in the garden and kitchen!

Here are some things you can do:

2. Keep harvesting seeds!

Right now, lettuces are going to seed, with fluffy tops reaching upwards. When the tops of the flowers are fluffy, the seed is ready. Carefully place a paper bag over the whole flower spear, bend it downwards, and snip it off. Now your seeds are in the bag. At this point, I usually leave sunflowers for the hungry birds. If you do harvest some sunflower seeds, make sure to leave some. Those birds need food.

Peppers:

I still have Mad Hatter peppers, as well as Shishitos, Sweet Italian, and Jalapeños. Take a few completely ripe peppers (they should be red), open and eat them, but take out the seeds and spread them on a napkin or plate to let them dry out, before storing them in an envelope in a dark place (light will damage them). I don’t save Padron peppers anymore because they don’t breed true. I used to save them, but then I found that the following year the peppers had changed a bit – they all got big and very hot right away, and I didn’t get any little green ones for a lovely mild sautéed snack. I just buy new seeds for them.

Chard is setting seed now, so it should be ready to save soon. One caveat – it will cross pollinate with beets. I find this doesn’t harm the chard at all, but it does result in inferior beets, so don’t save your beet seeds if you have chard.

If you still have heirloom tomatoes, cut open a couple of very ripe ones and squeeze the seeds into a bowl.

Cover this bowl with cheesecloth (or something similar) and let this goop ferment for a few days. It will become moldy and slightly disgusting. Now it’s time to rinse the smelly stuff in a sieve, rubbing gently to get the seeds clean. Spread them on a napkin to dry.

3. This is the perfect time to plant garlic!

Whether you have softneck or hardneck varieties, it doesn’t matter. Just separate the cloves, but don’t peel them, and plant them so that the pointy tops are about an inch below the surface.

4. If you have a persimmon tree, and you’re not getting any rain, it’s a good idea to water it once in a while.

If it gets too dry, it may drop its fruit.

5. Clean up any old weeds and twigs, and make a weed compost pile.

If you leave this pile out all winter and spring, you should have some lovely compost by summer. But do make sure to leave a lot of leaves around, as they are good habitat for nesting insects, including pollinators.

6. If you have a Medlar tree, check to see if your medlars are ready to pick.

The stem connecting them to the branch should be dry and brown. If it is, and the medlar separates easily from the tree, pick it. Store these on a cloth or plate away from light. This is called bletting, and you must do this with medlars, or they will taste terrible. Once they get wrinkly and soft, they are ready to eat or make into jam or medlar membrillo.

7. If you haven’t done it lately, clean your chicken coop really well.

I like to start the winter with a clean coop. They spend more time in there during the winter, as the days are both longer and colder, so it gets pretty dirty. I clean the coop more often during the cold dark months.

8. October is the perfect time to make whiskey-soaked fruitcakes!

Always use real fruits, not the artificially dyed ones that one usually associates with a fruit cake. Check out the recipe for Mrs. Johnk’s Fruitcake on my site  https://nettlesandrosespermaculture.com/recipe/mrs-johnks-fruitcake/ It’s absolutely delicious!

 9. Do you want to get a jump on thanksgiving?

Roast a pumpkin, puree the flesh, and freeze it for later use in a pie. 

10. Is your walnut tree dropping nuts?

Look for the ones that have no green skin attached. Those are the good ones. Grab them and spread them out to dry, either by a fireplace or in a dehydrator.

11. If you still have aromatic roses blooming, pick some and dry the petals for use in pots pourris, teas, or creams and salves.

This is also a good time to pick rose hips. You can dry these (cut out the seeds inside) for use in high vitamin C teas.

Its also time to pick hawthorn berries. I always dry some to put in broths, and sometimes I make ketchup with the rest. Hawthorn is a wonderful herbal medicine, reputed to be good for the heart.

12. Near the end of the month is the best time to ferment cranberries in honey.

I’ve tried out many recipes for cranberries over the years, and this one is hands-down the very best. It’s also ridiculously easy. Here is the recipe https://nettlesandrosespermaculture.com/recipe/honey-fermented-cranberries/. If you make them in late October, they’ll be ready for Thanksgiving (or as I prefer to call it, the Celebration of the Harvest) dinner.

13. If you’ve had some rain, and you live in mushroom hunting country, you might want to get out your blunderbuss and go hunt for chanterelles.

Make sure you wear an orange safety vest, as it’s also hunting season in many parts of the Northern Hemisphere.

This is a pretty long list, and you may do very few of these things, but whatever you do, make sure to get outside! Enjoy the last warm days, feast your eyes upon the trees as they turn color, take in the softening light, and go jump in a big leaf pile, just because.

The world is full of beauty, every day of the year. Don’t miss out.

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