This Month In The Garden - November 2021

In The Allotment

• Removing dead/dying foliage from vegetables to make sure they don’t ruin the rest of the crop.

• Removing unwanted “weeds”.

• Covering any cleared ground with compost and mulch.

• Taking hardwood cuttings from fruit bushes, including blueberries and gooseberries.

• Cutting back old foliage on strawberry plants.

• Checking stored crops, such as foraged apples, for signs of rot or deterioration.

• Cutting down Jerusalem artichoke. Tubers keep well in the ground, but in areas where the soil freezes it is either best to spread a thick layer of mulch over the ground or lift tubers and store in boxes of damp sand in a cool shed/garage. You can also lift the tubers and store in a bucket of dry compost which I have done during wet winters and seems to work well. The tubers are best kept in the ground/stored in soil until you want them, but they can keep in the fridge for up to a fortnight once harvested.

I’m Harvesting

• Carrots, salad leaves including mustards, nasturtium leaves and flowers, beetroot leaves, spinach, a few autumn raspberries and herbs including rosemary, sage and thyme. Celeriac, leeks and Jerusalem artichoke are also ready.

In The Garden

• I’m laying down mulch beneath the hedgerow and fruit trees.

• I should be planting tulip bulbs but I’m waiting for the dahlias to finish so I have somewhere to plant the tulips!

• Collecting leaves to make leaf mulch – I collect and store them in a black bin liner as we don’t have enough space for a dedicated compost for leaves. This works well, just takes a little longer to decompose. Ensure the leaves are damp so they can decompose well (you can sprinkle in some water if you need) and cut a few holes in the bottom of the bag so the leaves don’t become too wet. You can add leaves to your compost but if you have a lot, they are best composted separately as they are slower to decompose than other garden materials. Once decomposed they make a brilliant mulch for the garden.

Looking After Wildlife

• Try not to be too tidy in the garden. Leave some seed heads, areas of longer grass, piles of leaves and twigs for hibernating and overwintering mammals and invertebrates, and foraging habitats for birds.

• Thoroughly clean bird feeders, bird baths and bird tables regularly to maintain hygiene as bacterial and fungal spores can quickly build and spread infections among garden birds.

• Clean out bird boxes taking out old nesting material, to encourage birds to nest in them next year.

Foraging

• We are still finding hawthorns, rose hips, and apples, although our freezer is full of fruit so we do not need to forage anymore!