Vegetable Gardening Tips for November
We cannot be sure of the weather these days; the start of November may be mild one year and the next very cold. What is certain is that winter weather is not far away and as gardeners we have to plan for the worst and hope for the best.
Vegetable garden planning for next year can begin now as the new seed catalogues start dropping through the door. No doubt there will be new varieties to tempt our taste buds and we will be faced with the dilemma of choosing our tried and tested varieties or experimenting with the new.
Brussel Sprouts
If ever there was a vegetable that people either love or hate it has to be Brussel Sprouts. What is not in doubt is that they can provide a great crop for the space that they take up and are available to pick and eat at a time of the year when many others have gone over.
Pick the largest sprouts from the bottom of the stalk first and do remember to stake them as they are vulnerable to wind rock.
Remove any yellowed leaves to prevent the development of grey mould.
Protect with a medium such as fleece if pigeons are a nuisance in your vegetable garden.
Parsnips
Parsnips are another crop that can be left in the ground until needed as they taste much better when frosted. Alternatively lift them and bury in a shallow trench for easy access when needed.
The smell and taste of roasted parsnips on a cold winter night!
Cauliflowers
Leave Cauliflowers in the ground with the leaves snapped and folded down over the curds to protect them or harvest if you so wish. Check your seed catalogue for the best varieties to freeze if that is your chosen method of storing.
Protect with a medium such as fleece if pigeons are a nuisance in your vegetable garden.
Leeks
Keep harvesting leeks which should be plump and ready to eat now. Delicious as a vegetable with a meal or in soups and stews. I love them served with a cheese sauce.
Celeriac
Celeriac is another very versatile vegetable that can be served with a dinner or added to soups. If leaving them in the ground be sure to protect them from with a mulch of straw or other suitable material.
Carrots, Turnips, Swedes and Turnips
Lift and store these root crops using your preferred method. A frost free shed is ideal and boxes packed with layered veg separated by some form of compost. Peat used to be recommended medium but discouraged these days.
Garlic
Start next year’s crop of garlic by planting cloves in modules or large pots if this is to be their final planting place. Keep inside a cold frame or in a very sheltered position.
Broad Beans
If you garden in a mild region sow suitable varieties of broad beans under the protection of a cloche to produce early crops next year.
Kohl Rabi
This unusual (for then) vegetable was introduced to me many years ago by another gardener who liked to experiment with different varieties of vegetable. Kohl Rabi can still me cropped but better if eaten before they get too big when they can become stringy.
Radish
Continue cropping and watch for slug damage, my slugs seem to find them a delicacy.
Cabbage
Continue to crop cabbage but be vigilant in removing yellow leaves that can introduce disease and rot.
Chicory
Dig up chicory roots to be forced. Remove the foliage, pot them up and put them in a dark warm place. Three to six weeks later the chicons will appear.
Stored Vegetable Crops
Check stored vegetable crops regularly and remove any showing signs of rot or disease before it spreads through the whole crop.
Mice can be a great nuisance; we provide them with a wonderful and handy pantry. They can squeeze through small gaps or gnaw their way through places you would not imagine they could and climb surfaces that look impossible. Use a humane trap baited with chocolate, they cannot resist it.
Basil
Take Basil into a warmer environment as it is tender and ill not survive outdoors through the winter.
Herbs Generally
Protect tender herbs with cloches or horticultural fleece.
Those herbs that you use regularly pot up plants and bring into the kitchen.
Vegetable Plot Maintenance
Clear any debris off the vegetable patch.
Do not compost diseased material as it is far better to burn it or put it into a recycling bin for vegetable matter if it is provided by your local authority. They treat the waste at a high enough temperature to kill disease, something we home gardeners cannot achieve.
Weed, dig and incorporate well-rotted organic matter. Winter digging exposes soil pests to frost and bird predators.
Soil structure will be improved by frosting and it will be easier to rake and prepare a good tilth next growing season.
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