Over the last week, the days and nights have grown considerably cooler. All of a sudden, it is October. Halloween candy has been on display at the grocery store for several weeks, but I wonder whether the kids will enjoy the fun of neighborhood Trick-or-Treating this year.

I’m certain that October will proceed in the same surreal fashion of every month since February when the COVID-19 pandemic first overshadowed every aspect of our lives. Almost every aspect—many people have taken up gardening in 2020. Gardening, I believe, offers a consistent measure of the passage of the seasons and a sense of serenity and stability in times of turmoil.

Since it is October, it is time to take a critical look at the condition of the garden. The summer vegetables are finished and the corn stalks are dry. The crows probably ate all of your corn. The cold season crops look healthy.

The flowerbeds are looking pretty ragged and leggy. Tender annuals have wilted and turned brown. They need to be r...