What to plant
Veggies
October is when the soil begins to warm up. It's time to roll out basil, eggplant, capsicum, corn, cucumber, zucchini and pumpkin. Put your climbing beans, dwarf beans, lettuce and other leafy greens in a bed with afternoon shade. You can also plant chinese greens, cabbages, silverbeet, beetroot and potatoes.
And it's finally getting close to tomato planting time! It can pay to wait until Cup Day, as there's still the chance of frost (and the soil can be too cold). Mix up your selection of seedlings by planting plenty of heirloom varieties for an adventure in flavour, colour and form.
Get some joy-bringing sunflowers into the ground to bring some beauty to the garden, and produce some tasty seeds. Maybe this is the season for you to try some succulent homegrown watermelon?
Flowers and companion plants
Bring some colour to your patch and attract beneficial insects with anything from the daisy family, french marigolds, calendula, petunias, yarrow and alyssum.
Fertilising, mulching and watering
If you allowed your soil to be exposed to the sun to help it warm up, now's the time to start thinking about covering it again with mulch.
Before you put in all these wonderful spring planted vegetables, prepare your beds. Everything will appreciate some well made compost, a dash of dynamic lifter or blood & bone, and some straw mulch to finish off the job.
It's a great idea to check your dripline and automatic timer (if you have them) to make sure it is all working as your garden will start to appreciate regular watering from now on, especially those in raised beds.
