When I first started to grow vegetables I really needed information to be in one place, so I could look it up easily. However, I found I had to search for lots of little bits of information, scattered between internet sites and books. It used to take me a long time to find the information I needed.
I thought it would be useful to have this information altogether in one place. So for the benefit of the UK gardeners, I write a list of things to be done each month and any useful information I can think of.
It is worth remembering that different parts of the UK have different weather conditions e.g. the last frost is expected earlier in the south than the north. Therefore, this is a general guide.
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November
November is usually one of the wettest months of the year in the UK, though we do sometimes have a few days of fine, sunny weather. Shorter days, cooler temperatures and gales are expected this month, together with fog and mist.
Northerly winds can bring snow, though it isn’t likely to last before melting away.
When good days are forecast, it’s a good idea to take advantage of them and clear your plots and start winter digging, or spreading compost or manure on the surface of your soil if you prefer not to dig.
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Vegetables and salads to harvest:
Kale, celeriac, parsnips (parsnips taste sweeter after a good hard frost though), swede, carrots, red and white cabbages, Brussels tops, Jerusalem artichokes, winter spinach, kohl rabi’s, oriental salads (if they have been given protection), cauliflowers, turnips, Swiss chard, celery, leeks, radish, land cress, corn salad, rocket.
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Fruit to harvest:
Autumn raspberries may still be producing if there haven’t been any hard frosts. There may still be time to pick the last of your late season apples too.
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Vegetables and salads to sow:
Over wintering broad beans e.g. Aquadulce.
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Things to plant:
Garlic. Rhubarb, bare-rooted fruit trees and fruit bushes before the ground becomes too wet.
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Jobs to do:
Remove old plant debris and weeds and dig in compost, manure or leaf mould if your ground needs it. If you operate a ‘no-dig’ system, just spread it over the top so the worms will do the work for you.
Cover late crops with cloches, i.e. oriental leaves.
Add lime to your soil if it needs it, before the ground becomes too wet (to increase the PH of your soil). Don’t add lime at the same time as your manure, as they will chemically react with each other.
Add all the old plant debris to your compost heap as long as it’s not diseased.
Cover areas that have been cleared if you can, to stop the rain from leaching the nutrients out of your soil over the winter.
Mulch celeriac and globe artichokes with straw to stop any frost damage.
Bend a few leaves over on your cauliflowers to protect them from frost.
Weed around your fruit trees and bushes and remove fruit cages so the birds can pick off any insects or eggs on them.
As the fruit trees and fruit bushes become dormant, it is time to start to prune them (except cherries and plums). Remove any dead or diseased branches first.
Catch up with jobs that you didn’t get time to do in the summer e.g. painting your shed, making a new compost heap etc.
Collect leaves to make leaf mould.
Continue to fill a trench with all your old peelings, where you will be planting runner beans next year. This will help retain the moisture in those long hot summers (the ones we dream of).
Plant remaining daffodil bulbs and start to plant tulip bulbs.
Plan what you will be growing next year and enjoy reading through seed catalogues and ordering your seeds.
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November pests and diseases:
Remove yellow leaves from brassica’s as this can encourage grey mould.
Whitefly can still be a problem on brassica’s, so either squash them between your fingers or spray them.
Pigeons get hungry at this time of year, so make sure you net your brassica’s.
Watch out for mice as they like to eat your newly planted broad bean seeds, garlic and over wintering onion sets.
Check your stored produce for rot, so it doesn’t spread.
Remove rotten fruit that may still be hanging on your fruit trees.
Fit grease bands or paint on fruit tree grease, if you didn’t do it last month, to stop the winter moth climbing up and laying its eggs.
Thank you for reading my blog today. I hope this information has been helpful.
I will be back on Friday at my usual time.
Many thanks for sharing
That’s ok Linda. How are you keeping?
Must get the grease out – Yuk
Hello,
Found you a few days ago. Have been looking back at some of your writings. Very interesting. You must have bags of energy to look after 4 allotments! I look forward to reading on a regular basis.
Best wishes,
Angela
Hi Angela, it’s lovely to hear from you. I sometimes think I’m mad having four allotments but I just love it and get such a thrill from serving my veg to my family knowing i’ve grown it without any pesticides….and it saves so much money on my shopping bill. I do love thi8s time of the year though as things start to slow down and I look forward to spending more time in my home.
I should have put my proper ID in
It doesn’t really matter what ID you put, as it’s lovely to receive comments and different peoples views.
Since my last message to you I got married and new husband has finally got an allotment this saturday after giving up his much loved old one to come over to leeds and marry me! I hope you and your girls are all well x
Wow and congratulations hormonal whirlwind. Did your day go as planned?…I bet it was all beautiful. What good news as well that your husband has got another allotment, I bet he was missing it.
Great to see your jobs to do in november, hope your kitchen is all done,
Sue
It’s nearly done now Sue, just the last few bits and bobs to be done. I’m hoping to show some photo’s on Friday if it’s finally finished.
There are not enough daylight hours in November for me to squash by hand the whitefly on my brassicas! Someone told me a tip involving a piece of cardboard spread with grease (tap leaves with it and whitefly fly up and stick to the grease) and I have tried yellow sticky traps, but though both these work to an extent for flea beetle they are no good for whitefly. One day whitefly will inherit the earth! I love this site and have put a link to it on our website http://www.ashfordallotments.org.uk
Thank you for the link Ashford allotmenteer, I’ll go and have at look at your site in a minute. I keep removing any yellowing leaves on my brassica’s to help to stop the build up of whitefly…it doesn’t always work though as last time I did this I had whitefly all over my arms, hair and they kept getting up my nose lol. My brassica’s always seem to come through it though and after a good rub and a wash, they are just as good to eat.
Edit: Love your website, it has such useful information on it. I wish our allotment site did something like that….you should be very proud of yourselves!
Thank you for your blog.I am hoping to grow my own veg having only grown runner beans,potatoes before ,I will be following your instructions month by month.:)
Hi Louise, it’s lovely to hear from you. If you ever have a question I am always here to help, even if you think it sounds daft I bet it won’t be and others will want to know the answer too.
Hi. I’ve just found your blog and have found it very helpful. I have managed to get an allotment at the beginning of November and have inherited some strawberry plants. I have tried to remove dead leaves and the runners which are not needed but I’ve just gone back today and some of the leaves have gone yellow. Can you tell me if this is normal in Winter or if they are probably diseased?
Hi Rebecca, yes this sometimes happens at this time of year. I would leave them alone until spring now and then remove any dead leaves and give them a feed of potash. Strawberry plants are best to keep unto four years as they start to be less productive and start to suffer from disease… It may be your plants are old plants and need to be replaced? I bought some new strawberry plants a couple of years ago from Aldi in the Spring and they were great, so if you aren’t bothered about variety it’s a good place to buy them from.
Loved the blog, thanks for sharing! All your cape goosberries! Mine are still green But then I’m impatient, hehe!
Hi Mrs Yub, how are you?
slowly reading through your blog! I am a little slow.
Your swede reminds me of Mandrake roots in Harry Potter! lol
Lol, I had to google ‘Mandrake roots’ to see what they look like….and yes you are right.