EECO Farm – OCTOBER 2025 Newsletter for Gardeners

"The crows above the forest call; 

Tomorrow they may form and go. 

O hushed October morning mild, 

Begin the hours of this day slow." 

“October” – Robert Frost (1874-1963)   

As they say, working as a meteorologist is the only type of employment where you can be wrong 50% of the time and still have a job.

Well, they were wrong again! Back in May of this year, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration or NOAA (affectionately pronounced “Noah” … as in the guy with the ark) predicted 19 named tropical storms by November (there have only been 8) and 10 of those storms were supposed to reach hurricane strength with 3 to 5 of them actually hitting some part the United States. So far, there have only been 3 such tropical depressions classified as full-blown hurricanes and none have reached any part of the USA.  

Now we point out the above facts not to complain that there have been no storms here but merely to explain why early last month Long Island was declared to be in Stage II of drought conditions by the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC). However, the Suffolk County Water Authority isn’t waiting for things to get worse and so they declared their own drought emergency for all of its East End customers shortly thereafter. We are now about 9 inches below our regular rainfall level by this time of year. Now no one is wishing for a hurricane to hit the East End --- what with the high winds, spot flooding and all --- but we could certainly use a nice, long and gentle rain. That would be very helpful. 

Lately, many of us have noticed a faster “die back” than normal as tree leaves are turning color just a bit quicker than usual. Local dogwoods, wild cherry, birch, magnolia, ash, tulip poplar, maple, chestnut, beech and even some elm trees around here are already well past their prime for color --- and in quite a few cases they just turned straight to brown and quickly curled up and dropped their leaves in late September while still partially green! 


         Those who put in early fall plantings at EECO Farm are more than just a little annoyed with the way their crops are coming in, mainly from this lack of rain. Truth be told --- late summer planting on the East End is always a bit of a gamble. Last year it went very well --- this year, not so much. 

Mid-October is the best time to transplant roses and the like and it is a great time to divide your perennials, if they need to be, or if you just want to share them with a fellow gardener. Use a sharp garden spade from the EECO Farm tool shed and chop off the size clump you want, then pull out the roots/bulbs of a crown with a garden fork. Good candidates for splitting are iris, hollyhock, gladiola, hosta and sedum --- to name a few. Cut back all the remaining green foliage to about 6 inches high. And don’t forget to fill in the hole left behind with compost. 

Those of you still lucky enough to have ripe peppers and eggplants you should start pulling them in along with any last-minute tomatoes, Brussel sprouts, cauliflower, kohlrabi, cabbage, collard greens, potatoes, broccoli and kale. Your leeks can stay put until November.

Your dahlias and calla lily can stick around a bit longer too but will need their tubers/bulbs dug up by month’s end. We also suggest you pull out your dead sunflower stalks as they are annuals but cut off all the heads that still hold seeds and leave them in your garden as feed for migrating birds. Then you should remove the empty heads at the final cleanup. 

Although it is not a set garden rule, EECO Farm highly recommends that everyone take their annual gardens --- whether vegetable, fruit or flower --- down to plain soil through the winter. Top off your garden with at least an inch of fresh compost one last time and mix in well any mild fertilizers or long-acting stabilizers now (organic only!) and, if you wish, cover your garden with salt marsh hay or biodegradable fabric. This will hold down weeds, prevent wind erosion and help with clean up in the Spring.


 Be courteous and don’t let weeds in your garden go to seed and spread. (We’ll talk about planting garlic in the November newsletter as the ground is still too warm for that effort.)

Later this month many of us take small versions of our fresh herbs (especially rosemary, oregano, thyme, dill, sage, tarragon, parsley, chives and/or thyme) and pot them up into 3 or 4-inch terra cottas for bringing indoors. Leave the potted herbs on a sunny window sill in the kitchen so you’ll have fresh pieces for cooking and seasoning all winter long. 

Do not harvest anything from other gardens without permission from that renter as such trespassers will be asked to leave EECO Farm if the offended tenant reports you to the Board. 


         Lastly, if you have built a cold frame or just want to leave your Swiss chard, kale and leeks in the garden until the very latest possible date, then remember the main water line will be turned off in about 6 weeks and the pipes will be blown out. 

This year the main garden area of EECO Farm is going dry by mid-November. Disconnect all hoses and take them home or store them away in your garden. As usual, should you need it, the water tap over by the tool shed will remain operational all winter, but you will need to hand pump your water needs. 


REMEMBER: November 2, 2025, at 2:00 A.M.: Clocks are set back 1 hour (“fall back”), gaining an hour of sleep. Sunrise and sunset will be about 60 minutes earlier than the day before. There will thus be more daylight in the morning when you wake up --- but less at night before dinner. Since this time change occurs at 2:00 A.M., we generally change our clocks before bed on Saturday. March 8, 2026, at 2:00 A.M.: Clocks are set forward 1 hour (“spring forward”) gaining back the 60 minutes you lost back in November!

         Happy Gardening!


NOTE: THE WATER AT EECO FARM WILL BE TURNED OFF BY THE SECOND WEEK OF NOVEMBER AND ALL THE MAIN WATER LINES WILL BE BLOWN OUT FOR THE SEASON. 

         THE TOOL SHED WILL REMAIN OPEN UNTIL RIGHT AFTER HARD FREEZE AND THE WHEELBARROWS, PORTABLE TOILETS AND WEED WAGON WILL REMAIN OUT UNTIL THEN AS WELL.