October was an uncharacteristically meager month in my garden. No tomatoes (with the exception of a single, small Dr. Wyche’s Yellow), and we had an unusually early first night frost on October 17, which killed my dahlias and all tender herbs. Earlier that day, I had harvested all my basil to make one last batch of pesto. I also picked the last dahlias and hot peppers. It made me sad that the dahlias were gone so soon; I had hoped to extended the season until the end of October as in previous years.

On October 15, I harvested several huge bunches of herbs to make a few more rounds of pesto for the freezer. I also cut some young tender stems of Italian basil, Thai basil and mint for hydroponic propagating. Once rooted, I will plant a few of the stems in pots to live in my kitchen.

I grew my first pumpkins ever.

I also harvested several bunches of kale and Swiss chard over the month (not pictured) and was lucky to get two more Asian eggplants. This was one super productive plant; the first time really that I had any sizeable eggplant harvest.

The Thai peppers were tiny again. So strange. I wonder whether there was a seed mix-up, because they look longer and more pointy on the seed packet picture, not as stubby and round as mine. They are super spicy though. I dried them and turned them into pepper flakes.

It’s the end of October. The plot is cleared and the flower bulbs are planted. Still growing in the plot are kale, chard, leeks, cilantro and parsley. I will plant my garlic in the next few days and dig up the dahlias soon.