The growing week
This week: clear, highs around 95°F and lows around 50°F.
Heat: highs near 95°F. Water deeply and shade new transplants.
In the garden now
Garlic, cover crops and strawberries as the rains return
Sow a cover crop in the empty beds — favas or red clover. Cut it down next spring just as the flower buds form, and leave the roots in the ground for the nitrogen. UC Master Gardeners of Sonoma County
Mulch the perennial crops and any bare soil three or four inches deep. Mulch cuts rain splash and so cuts disease. Keep it five feet back from the house through fire season. UC Master Gardeners of Sonoma County
The rest of the month, and the whole year, is in the garden calendar.
At the farm stands
In October, look for apples, pears, winter squash, pumpkins, grapes, persimmons, pomegranates, and the last tomatoes.
Garden tasks come from the UC Master Gardener Program of Sonoma County and UC Integrated Pest Management, each linked to its source. Growing weather is from the National Weather Service. Your own microclimate, on the valley floor or a hillside, will vary.