The hungry gap – The Veg Grower’s Diary: October 2026

Key points

• Early spring is a lean period in the vegetable garden, when stored crops have run out and summer produce is not yet ready. Only perennial herbs are typically available to pick in October.
• The gardener says seedlings should be hardened off over about a week, moved outdoors for gradually longer periods.
• Frost dates vary from year to year, so the writer relies on 10-day forecasts, covering plants when nights are forecast to fall below 10 degrees Celsius.