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What to do now - november
It's that time of year...
It’s getting darker and colder, and there is less growing and fewer crops to harvest. But some crops – e.g. brassicas and leaks - are at their peak during the winter months and others will be growing well.
It’s the perfect time of year to plant and prune fruit trees and bushes, hardy broad beans and peas can be sown, and shallots and garlic can get an excellent start if there are no prolonged spells of water-logged soil.
Aside from growing crops there are plenty of jobs to do. It's a good time to prepare beds for next year, either by winter digging or top-dressing beds with organic matter if you have adopted or are trialling the no-dig method.. It's a good time to net your brassicas as pigeons and other hungry birds have fewer sources of food (and a need for more calories) over winter months.
You may want to consider extended your growing season by investing in a greenhouse, hot frame or polytunnel - they also provide convenient shelter if you get caught out by rain or storms while working your plot.
Allotment tasks - November
Sow Now
Hardy shallots and garlic (on mounds if soil is wet).
Broad beans and peas (hardy varieties).
Rhubarb (divide roots) .
Green manures (to dig in during early spring.
Jobs
Plant and prune apple/pear trees.
Improve the soil by adding organic matter. Turn over the soil to allow the frost to break it down further (winter digging).
Cover vacant beds to prevent weed growth and keep the soil warm – proprietary covers and fleeces will work best but cardboard, carpets, manure and straw are also effective alternatives.
Harvest
R oot vegetables, autumn brassicas, late salad crops. The very last tomatoes, apples and other hard fruits, leeks, beetroot, beans sweetcorn, squash (they should sound hollow when you tap them), kale and chard.
Leaf Salad Crops
Salad crops develop quickly, and there are a wide variety – sorrel, lettuce, endive, kale, radicchio and mustard leaves - to suit various conditions.
They can be grown in seed drills, broadcast over an area of ground or grown in containers. Either way, they offer a fresh and tasty alternative to bags of supermarket salads.
As salad crops can outgrow weeds, watering and pests are the main concerns for salad growers. Watering every two days may be necessary during long dry spells if salad crops are grown in compost rich beds (daily watering may be necessary if they are grown in small pots).
Slugs are the main pest, and can be treated with pellets, nematodes, or regular picking off. Ants and aphids can also be a problem – ants can be kept in check if the surrounding soil is kept moist. Aphids can be squashed by hand if they are not tackled by ladybirds or beetles.
Regular collect leaves when they are ready to harvest. If leaves start to sag after harvesting they can be recovered by soaking in cold water.
Protect Winter Brassicas
A well planned plot will have some well-developed brassicas as we head towards winter: various types of kale, cabbage, sprouts and broccoli. Give them a helping hand by:
- Fitting mesh or netting to protect them from pigeons
- Stake out taller Brussels sprouts and broccoli plants
- Remove any yellow leaves to discourage white fly and improve air circulation
- Apply soft soap solutions to help protect against pests the following spring
Chitting Potatoes
February is time to prepare seed potatoes for planting by ‘chitting’ them – storing them in such a way that they start to sprout before being planted in the ground.
The potatoes should be spread out over a single layer in a cool, dry place which is free from the risk of frost. Large, unused egg boxes are ideal for this, allowing air circulation between each seed potato.
Ideally the storage area should be bright but the seed potatoes should be out of direct sunlight. After a few days the potatoes will then grow short stubby shoots which will help the potato plants to grow when they are planted out to get them off to a fast start when planted out. St Patrick’s Day is the traditional day of the year to plant potatoes.
There is some evidence that you can grow larger potatoes by breaking off the weaker shoots just before planting, leaving only the three or four stronger shoots to grow.