What to Plant in October (Yes, Really)

Every October I watch my neighbors pull everything out of their gardens like the season is just over.   Rip it all up, toss it in the yard waste bin, done until April.   And look,  I get it. But also, no. We live in zone 8b.  The garden doesn’t have to stop.

October in western Washington is not January in western Washington.  We’re getting lows in the low 40s most nights right now, occasional frost starting late in the month, and a whole lot of grey drizzle that vegetables like kale and spinach basically consider a spa day.  Some of these crops actually taste better after a light frost.  The cold converts starches to sugars. Free flavor upgrade. You don’t have to do anything except not pull them out.

What You Can Still Direct Sow Right Now

Spinach is your best bet for a direct sow this week.  Germinates down to about 40 degrees, fine with short days, doesn’t complain. I scratched in a short row of spinach seeds along the south-facing edge of my raised bed last weekend and I’m not even worried about it. Spinach is tough. Spinach has seen things.

Mâche, also called corn salad, is the other one worth knowing about.  Tiny rosettes, nutty flavor, laughs at frost. I found seeds at local nursery a few years ago for $2.49 a packet and now I just let it self-seed every fall.  Basically free at this point, which is exactly how I like my vegetables.

Arugula can still go in, but you want to do it in the next week or two.  It slows way down once the days get really short.  Still worth it though. Even slow arugula is arugula.

Things Already in the Ground That You Should Leave Alone

If you planted kale in August or September, do not touch it. It’s about to get good. Lacinato kale in particular gets almost sweet after a frost.  My daughters would not eat kale under any circumstances until one October I gave them leaves that had been through a couple cold nights, roasted them with olive oil and a little salt, and suddenly kale was fine.  I’m not saying frost fixed my kids.  I’m just saying correlation is interesting.

Chard hangs in there through most of our winters, especially if you keep harvesting the outer leaves. Same with any overwintered broccoli or cauliflower you might have started in July.  Those are in a waiting game right now but they’ll head up in late winter or early spring. Patience is the main ingredient.  Which, now that I think about it, that one’s free too.

Leeks.  If you have leeks, congratulations, you are eating in December.  They just sit there getting fatter and you pull them as needed.  Best low-effort crop I grow.

The Cold Frame Situation

Okay so I built a cold frame out of an old storm window and some scrap 2x8s I had in the garage.  Cost me about $4 in hardware.  Under that thing I have a tray of mixed lettuces that would not survive unprotected past mid-November, but with the cold frame they’ll probably go until January. Maybe longer.  Last year I was cutting lettuce on January 9th and that felt genuinely absurd in a good way.

You don’t need a fancy cold frame kit.  Any old window works.  A few bricks to prop it open on warm days so things don’t cook.  That’s the whole system. And if you want something a bit more purpose-built, row cover fabric over a couple of wire hoops gets you 4 to 6 degrees of frost protection for not much money.  I think I spent $11 on a roll two seasons ago and I’m still using it.

What I’d Skip at This Point

Honestly, brassica transplants. If you didn’t get them in by late September you’re kind of fighting the light now more than the temperature.  They’ll just sit there looking sad and small. I learned this the hard way in year two when I planted broccoli starts on October 15th and they were still the exact same size in March.  Not dead. Just completely unimpressed with my optimism.

Carrots are also a skip for new sowings right now, at least for this season. They need more time than we have. Any carrots already in the ground though, leave them. They store fine right in the soil and you can dig them through winter as needed.

The Short Version

Plant spinach, mâche, and maybe arugula this week. Leave your kale, chard, leeks, and brassicas alone and let them do their thing.  Throw a cold frame or some row cover over anything tender.  Your October garden isn’t finished, it’s just changing its personality a little.

Lettuce turnip the beet and keep going. (I couldn’t help it. I never can.)

Photo by Leslie Cross on Unsplash