November
Under Cool Glass
All tomato and cucumber plants etc should be cleared out now that they have finished cropping. Over-wintering lettuce should be checked frequently for signs of pests or stem rot. Keep them adequately watered and well-ventilated in all but frosty weather.
Seedlings of early summer cauliflower, which were sown in the middle of October, should be pricked out into 9 cm. pots as soon as they are large enough to handle. They should be over-wintered in cold frames or a cold greenhouse, protected from frost, but given plenty of light and air. They must not be allowed to go short of water, but do not over-water. Keep an eye out for fungal diseases such as brassica downy mildew, spraying with an appropriate fungicide as necessary.
Sowings of broad beans in pots, again for planting out in early spring, can be made this month. They too can be over wintered in cold frames, in areas where the soil is a bit heavy and wet for sowing directly in the cropping position without protection. To avoid stretching, grow them cool, with plenty of light. They will flower and crop earlier than spring sown plants.
Garlic cloves can also be started into growth in modules or pots, for planting out during open weather conditions in early spring.
The Vegetable Plot
Most summer/autumn crops will have now finished and been cleared. Root crops, other than parsnips, should be lifted and stored before affected by frost. Over-wintering brassicas, such as kale (borecole), purple sprouting broccoli, winter or spring-heading cauliflower or broccoli and Brussels sprouts should be checked regularly to ensure the are firm in the ground.
Bend or tie up the outer leaves of cauliflowers or broccoli to protect the developing curds from frost. Stake the taller growing plants such as sprouts to prevent wind rock. Remove yellowing leaves. Early season Brussels sprouts should have 'buttoned up' sufficiently to begin to harvest, picking from the lowest on the stem and moving progressively upwards as they develop.
Leeks will be ready to harvest over the winter months, the timing depending on variety and planting times. For convenience of harvesting they may be lifted and heeled into a shallow trench somewhere within easier access. This may make it easier to harvest when needed in frosty weather or to avoid trampling on muddy wet soil.
Similarly, parsnips may be buried in a shallow trench, laid horizontally, for easier harvesting than directly from frozen ground. Don't forget to mark where you buried them though!
Parsnips always taste that bit sweeter after they have been subjected to some frost, but it is possible to lift and eat them before they have been frosted.
November marks the beginning of the new growing season as well as the end of the old one. Work done during this month will repay you by giving a head start next spring. The soil will still be workable for most of this month, but will not remain so as winter begins to set in. Finish the autumn digging this month, leaving the ground rough-dug for the frosts to break down the larger clods into finer particles. Birds will make short work of any pests or their eggs which are brought to the surface; but before the heavier rains of winter it is useful to cover the soil with plastic sheeting. Use black polythene or an opaque tarpaulin, but pull it back occasionally on fine days to prevent conditions underneath becoming too stagnant. A few slug pellets scattered on the soil surface under the sheet will help keep the slugs and snails at bay.
Some gardening books suggest spreading well-rotted manure (not fresh!) over the freshly dug ground in the autumn, and this is fine if the ground is to be covered with sheeting. If the ground is to be left uncovered, the winter rains will wash the nutrients out of the manure and they will be wasted. Also the manure mulch will act as an insulating blanket preventing frost from reaching the soil below and breaking down the large clumps of earth. It will also keep any pests snugly insulated from the frost.
If you are applying lime to the soil, to raise the pH, or flocculate clay soil, don't apply manure at the same time. The lime reacts with the manure, releasing ammonia gas or ammonium salts. These could be toxic to the roots of any tender plants in the vicinity and being highly soluble could be washed out of the soil by leaching and lost. The reaction with manure will also counteract the action of lime in raising the pH, which was one of the reasons for adding the lime in the first place.
The preferred approach is to add the lime in the autumn, allowing the winter rains to wash it in and allowing the lime time to take effect. Then in the spring spreading well rotted manure and working it into the soil as part of the preparation of the new planting beds.
It must be emphasised that manure that is obtained from stables and farm middens over the winter and in the spring is very rarely well-rotted. Although the heat of the initial fermentation may have dissipated, the cold conditions of winter and early spring will not have allowed the manure to fully rot down. Applying it to the soil while still 'fresh' may actually 'rob' the soil of valuable nitrogen as this will be
used by the soil microbes and fungi while they break down the cellulose portions of the straw or wood chip contained in the manure. Only when this has been completed will the microbes release the nitrogen back into the soil to provide nutrition to your growing crop. This could take several months, well into summer, and meanwhile your newly planted crops are starved of nitrogen when they most need it. By breaking down to provide humus, manure greatly improves soil structure, enhancing its workability and giving a better root run and moisture retention. However, it doesn't contain all that much nutrition, a large proportion of any nutrients having been absorbed by the animal. It is unlikely that manure alone will supply a crop with enough nutrients for a whole season of growth. On an intensively cropped area, such as an allotment plot, additional feeding with fertilisers (either synthetically produced or organic) is almost always necessary to ensure success.
The only use for fresh manure is to bury it deeply below the growing bed to provide the fuel to warm the soil as a hotbed, rather than as a source of nutrients. It must also be remembered that fresh manure may contain animal antibiotics and other veterinary medicines, as well as persistent herbicide residues. Insufficient time will have elapsed for the microbes in the soil to break these substances down and render them harmless, and they may have deleterious effects upon your crops.
If you feel that you 'must' apply manure, that is not well-rotted, work it deeply and thoroughly into the soil, rather than leave it on the surface over winter. By mixing it intimately with the soil it will give the soil microbes more of a chance to work their 'magic' and dilute any deleterious effects of any residues. Even then, with some persistent selective herbicides, this may not give enough time for the microbes to completely render them harmless, and the land may need to lie fallow and unplanted for several months or more.
The Fruit Garden
Continue to tidy the fruit garden, removing any leaf or fruit debris and weeds.
Ensure that all branches of trained fruit are supported and well tied to protect from winter gales. Treat raspberries and other cane fruit similarly.
Remember to check over any stored fruit at regular intervals over the winter months and remove any that are showing signs of rot or disease. Apples and pears will continue to ripen in storage (they are ‘climacteric’) and with some varieties this will improve their flavour up to a point and then the flavour will deteriorate, so taste them regularly.
Spray peach, apricots and nectarines with Bordeaux Mixture, just before leaf fall, to minimise the number of over-wintering spores of Peach Leaf Curl disease.
A dressing of sulphate of potash round the trees and bushes over the winter months will help ripen new wood and encourage production of more blossom and fruit next year.
Pests & Disease
Ensure that any crops remaining in the ground, and new sowings under cloches, are protected from mice and slugs.
Pigeons can be pests during the winter months, especially for brassicas and other green vegetables, when there is little other food available. Protect your crops with netting or tunnels of chicken wire.
To prevent the development of grey mould and brassica downy mildew, remove any yellowed leaves on Brussels sprouts and other brassicas regularly.
Remove any remaining diseased plant debris from the vegetable plot and burn or bin it. Do not compost any diseased material such as blight-infected potatoes, onions suffering from white rot and any crops with rust disease.
