November came and so did the rain! The combination of rain and warm weather has extended the growing season. I’ve been picking ripe figs and autumn raspberries, but have also been coping with ever growing perennial and annual weeds. But the inevitable will happen, as the daylight hours get shorter the ground will slowly cool down and now is the time to get the allotment in good order. The next 10 days look reasonably good for gardening so here are a few ideas of what to do now.
Harvest and Plant
Most autumn cropping vegetables will have reached their peak now; parsnips, brassicas - cabbage, kale, broccoli, and leeks can be left in the ground and harvested as needed.
Brussels sprouts can be harvested starting at the bottom of the stalk and working your way up, or harvest an entire plant and store it somewhere cool. Be sure to keep them protected from pests – slugs, caterpillars and pigeons are still on the prowl!
Celeriac will only tolerate light frosts, so harvest as and when you need them until colder weather is forecast, then dig them up and store somewhere dark and cool. Pumpkins, even if not fully ripe, should be harvested now and left in a dry place to finish ripening.
Though I tend to leave potatoes in the ground and harvest when needed, the general advice is to dig them up and store in a cool place as slugs and eelworms may eat them.
If you’re growing winter lettuces and salad leaves you should be able to harvest a few leaves here and there this month.
You can still plant onions, shallots and garlic and broad beans.
Fruit
The bare-root season is delayed due to the mild weather, but it will soon be time to plant bare-rooted fruit canes, bushes and trees. Order now for delivery in a few weeks.
Divide rhubarb crowns if they have grown very large.
Put grease or grease bands on the trunks to protect from winter moth from climbing up and laying its eggs.
Bed preparation
As the beds are cleared of produce, make sure they’re weed free, that all debris has been cleared and then put down a thick layer of compost or well rotted manure to improve soil quality for next season, and to protect the soil from degradation over the winter.
November is a great time to collect up leaves for making a leaf mulch compost to use next year. Collect fallen leaves while they are damp, chop them up with a lawn mower if you can, put them in an open weave bag, and leave on the soil. Worms will break it down to a friable mulch.
It’s also a good time of year for doing useful things like building and starting a compost heap and making new raised beds.
In the Garden
If you have waterlogged areas on the lawn aerate with a garden fork. The ground is still warm enough for grass seed to germinate so re-seed bare patches.
Continue to cut back, weed, and mulch your beds and borders in the garden.
Bring tender perennials such as pelargoniums into a greenhouse/poly house or cool conservatory.
Plant new shrubs and herbaceous perennials.
Sow sweet peas in root trainers in greenhouse/poly house or cool conservatory for planting out in the spring.
Continue planting spring flowering bulbs. Protect tulips from squirrels with a top dressing of gravel/grit, or winter annuals such as viola.
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