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Allotment and vegetable gardening month by month guide: October - December
OCTOBER
Harvest:
By now the maincrop potatoes should be ready. As the foliage dies back you can cut this off and leave the potatoes for a couple of weeks. This will prevent any stray blight spores from infecting your crop. Wait for a sunny dry day and dig up the potatoes, brushing off excess soil and letting them dry before storing in hessian or paper sacks in a frost free, dark shed.
The last of the beans should be picked now, compost the foliage but leave the roots with their nitrogen full nodules in the soil as a fertiliser.
Carrots can come up to be stored in sand or peat through the winter but leave the parsnips in the ground. They'll be sweeter after a frost.
Cabbages should come up now too, they'll keep remarkably well in that frost-free shed but beware the slug that may be lurking under the leaves. Sprinkling the outside with salt will deter them from eating away through the winter, any green tomatoes on outdoor plants may as well come in now before the frost gets them. You can make a green tomato chutney or ripen them up indoors. Green tomatoes will actually store quite well in cool conditions and slowly ripen or you can hasten the ripening process by popping them in a tray in a sunny windowsill with a ripe banana.General Jobs in the Garden:
As ground becomes vacant you can dig it over and spread manure over the surface. Leave the soil roughly dug in large clumps and the worms will break these up as they get the manure. The freezing and thawing of water in the soil will cause the soil to break up finely so becoming easier to handle in the spring.
October and November are good months to undertake double digging, incorporating manure into the bottom of the trench and deepening your topsoil.
With finer soils where digging each year is not necessary, you can plant a green manure crop to overwinter such as field beans.
Dig in any green manure crops such as mustard that you planted earlier in the year.
Your compost bins will be filling up as the last of the crops come in so now is a good time to give them a turn to help even decomposition and cover them to keep them warm and damp rather than soaking wet. If you've got a comfrey patch you may as well take the last cut and add to the heap to activate it.
The leaves will start to fall very shortly and these are a valuable resource. Prepare for them by building a leaf mould cage. Very simple to do, you just drive four stakes into the ground and staple chicken netting around to make the cage. Pile in the leaves and leave them alone for a year. You will find the pile reduces by two thirds at least, so keep filling the bin as more leaves fall. If you have one those marvellous garden vacuum mulchers that suck up leaves and chop them, you will find the leaves rot down much more quickly. Watch out for council sweepers, they may just drop you a load of leaves when they call to collect a few veggies off you.Sowing, Planting and Cultivating:
It's not too late to plant out Japanese onion sets, these are hardy and will overwinter producing a crop about a month earlier than the spring planted onions. A cloche or fleece covering will get them off to a good start and stop the birds from pulling them out.
You can plant your garlic now although this job will hold over into November easily. If you have time and the weather is fine, it's worth doing it when you can because who knows what November's weather will be?
You can sow broad beans now to get them off to an early start next year, but in colder areas it may be better to wait until spring as germination is more patchy on winter sowings. Better late than never.
Remove any yellowing leaves from over-wintering brassicas, they are of no use to the plant and will encourage botrytis to develop.Fruit:
When the strawberries have finished tidy up the bed, cut off the tops, remove dead leaves, rotting berries you missed under the foliage and remove self-planted runners.
Fruit bushes such as black and red currants should be pruned, as should the gooseberries. Now and November are good months to attend to the raspberries, blackberries etc. It's also a good time to plant new canes, adding some compost and 8oz per square yard or 250 grams per square metre of bonemeal to keep them well fed.In the greenhouse:
If you've not already done so, now's the time for a good clean out. Take out all those pots and bits you've left in there and put them in the shed – you can tidy that up later!
Next it's time to wash the greenhouse down, a little detergent and disinfectant and a scrubbing brush. Getting the glass clean will allow more light through in the dark days and cleaning the frame will remove pests looking for a good spot to spend the winter.
If you are going to be using the greenhouse through the winter, you can now insulate it. Bubble wrap is good or heatsheets will do the job. Don't forget you will still need some ventilation or mould will run riot in the house.
You can also sow a hardy lettuce like Arctic King and grow them on in your border to give you a salad whatever the weather.
NOVEMBER
Harvest:
Usually November means the hard frosts have started and it's time to harvest winter cabbages and cauliflowers. Sticking with the brassicas, the Brussels sprouts should be starting. You are allowed to eat them on other days as well as Christmas day!
Leeks should be about ready, just take what you need and leave the rest to stand until required. You could still be harvesting celery and celeriac, kale and kohl rabi as well as turnips, swedes and spinach.
The carrots should come up for storage now, either in peat or sand or even a traditional clamp.
Parsnips will stay in the ground but if the weather turns really cold, you need to cover them or you will not be able to take them from frozen ground.
Jerusalem artichokes will be available and you can start on Salsify and Scorzonera. Salsify is often called the 'vegetable oyster' and properly cooked is a wonderful vegetable.
It's worth checking any vegetables you have in store and removing anything that has started to rot before it spreads. Potatoes especially need to be checked and watch out for slugs that have emerged from a potato to go and damage another one.General Jobs in the Garden:
Digging can continue, when weather allows. Particularly with clay soils, digging when the soil is wet and sticky can do more harm than good. It's also more hard work.
As with October, as ground becomes vacant, you can dig it over and spread manure over the surface. Leave the soil roughly dug in large clumps and the worms will break these up as they get the manure. The freezing and thawing of water in the soil will cause the soil to break up finely so becoming easier to handle in the spring.
October and November are good months to undertake double digging, incorporating manure into the bottom of the trench and deepening your topsoil.
Ensure compost bins are covered to prevent excess rain leaching the nutrients and to keep some of the heat of decomposition in.
Leaf fall should be well underway and to recap on October's advice: The leaves will start to fall very shortly and these are a valuable resource. Prepare for them by building a leaf mould cage. Very simple to do, you just drive four stakes into the ground and staple chicken netting around to make the cage. Pile in the leaves and leave them alone for a year. You will find the pile reduces by two thirds at least, so keep filling the bin as more leaves fall. If you have one those marvellous garden vacuum mulchers that suck up leaves and chop them, you will find the leaves rot down much more quickly. Watch out for council sweepers, they may just drop you a load of leaves when they call to collect a few veggies off you.
Sowing, Planting and Cultivating:
Time to plant your garlic cloves now. They actually benefit from a period of cold, which prompts growth later. They don't like to sit in water, so if your soil is heavy and holds water, try dibbing a hole with an old spade handle or suchlike. Put about an inch of sand into the base and plant the clove on top, filling above with fine compost. This ensures good drainage and stops rotting.
Broad beans can be sowed now to gain an early crop next year, although more northerly areas can find germination so poor as to make the practice of autumn sowing counter-productive.
You can also sow some hardy pea varieties such as Meteor.
It's too late for most green manure crops except for grazing rye to hold nutrients in the soil for the spring, when it will be dug in.
Remember the pigeons will be on the look out for food, so net your brassicas to keep them away. It's worth removing any yellow leaves from your winter brassicas. They are doing no good and encourage diseases such as botrytis.Fruit:
Apples and pears can still be available as are autumn fruiting raspberries. As with October, November is a good month to attend to the raspberries, blackberries etc. It's also a good time to plant new canes, adding some compost and 8oz per square yard or 250 grams per square metre of bonemeal to keep them well fed.
Check any young trees are well supported with stakes and ties. Stakes can tend to work loose, which means they won't be doing their job of preventing wind rock loosening the roots.
You can prune your apple and pear trees now.In the greenhouse:
As per October, give the greenhouse a good wash down and clean up prior to insulating if you intend to use it through the winter. Decrease ventilation but do give the greenhouse a good airing on fine days to stop disease developing and especially downy mildew.
Successional sowings of winter salads can continue.
DECEMBER
Harvest:
Usually December means hard frosts and it's time to harvest winter cabbages and cauliflowers. Sticking with the brassicas, the Brussels sprouts should be starting. You are allowed to eat them on other days as well as Christmas day!
Leeks should be about ready, just take what you need and leave the rest to stand until required. Leeks are much better harvested from the garden as they are required but in severe weather this can be difficult, so you can lift a few and heel them in on well dug ground, this will not freeze solid.
The carrots should come up for storage now if they haven't already, store either in peat or sand or even a traditional clamp.
Lift celery, parsnips and swedes although parsnips and swedes are very hardy and may be left if the ground is not needed. You can always cover them with fleece or straw to help stop the ground freezing them in.
Jerusalem artichokes will be available and you can start on Salsify and Scorzonera. Salsify is often called the 'vegetable oyster' and properly cooked is a wonderful vegetable.
It's worth checking any vegetables you have in store and removing anything that has started to rot before it spreads. Potatoes especially need to be checked and watch out for slugs that have emerged from a potato to go and damage another one.Other crops you may have for harvest:
Perpetual spinach, celeriac, chicory (non-forcing and forcing varieties), endive, kale, kohl rabi, lettuce, winter radish, spinach, turnips.
General Jobs in the Garden:
Digging can continue, when weather allows. Particularly with clay soils, digging when the soil is wet and sticky can do more harm than good. It's also more hard work.
As with October & November, as ground becomes vacant, you can dig it over and spread manure over the surface. Leave the soil roughly dug in large clumps and the worms will break these up as they get the manure. The freezing and thawing of water in the soil will cause the soil to break up finely so becoming easier to handle in the spring.
Winter is a good time to undertake double digging, incorporating manure into the bottom of the trench and deepening your topsoil.
Stake any young trees and tall brassicas to prevent wind rock damaging them by loosening the soil around their roots.
Ensure compost bins are covered to prevent excess rain leaching the nutrients and to keep some of the heat of decomposition in.
Soil analyses. Autumn is a good time to check soil pH (potential hydrogen). This is measured on a scale of 1 to 14 with 7 being regarded as neutral, although in gardening terms 6.5 will support most plants. Below 7 is acid and above alkaline. If you want the best out of your garden send soil samples away for professional analysis for both pH and nutrient content or utilise a kit or meter readily available from garden centres and DIY stores.
Try and keep things tidy to avoid providing winter homes for pests waiting for the spring.
Take hardwood cuttings of soft fruit. Gooseberries, red, white and black currants, worcesterberries, jostaberries and vines can all be propagated by cuttings inserted in the open ground now. Choose sturdy well ripened shoots of this year's growth cutting them just below a bud and trimming to just above a bud. For black currants take them about 8-10 inches (200-250 mm) long, 12-15 inches (300-380 mm) for the other fruits. Insert them into the soil to about half their length. It is customary to grow all except blackcurrants on a short stem - so remove the buds from the lower part of the cutting. All the buds should be left on blackcurrant cuttings.
Leaf fall should be well underway and to recap on October & November's advice:The leaves will start to fall very shortly and these are a valuable resource. Prepare for them by building a leaf mould cage. Very simple to do, you just drive four stakes into the ground and staple chicken netting around to make the cage. Pile in the leaves and leave them alone for a year. You will find the pile reduces by two thirds at least, so keep filling the bin as more leaves fall. If you have one those marvellous garden vacuum mulchers that suck up leaves and chop them, you will find the leaves rot down much more quickly. Watch out for council sweepers, they may just drop you a load of leaves when they call to collect a few veggies off you.Sowing, Planting and Cultivating:
You can still plant your garlic cloves now. They actually benefit from a period of cold, which prompts growth later. They don't like to sit in water, so if your soil is heavy and holds water, try dibbing a hole with an old spade handle or suchlike. Put about an inch of sand into the base and plant the clove on top, filling above with fine compost. This ensures good drainage and stops rotting.
Remember the pigeons will be on the look out for food, so net your brassicas to keep them away. It's worth removing any yellow leaves from your winter brassicas. They are doing no good and encourage diseases such as botrytis.
Onions sown just after Christmas will make excellent plants and bulbs, benefiting from the longer growing period. Sow them in seed boxes in the greenhouse, or you can use cold frames if they can be kept frost free. Remember that cold frames can heat up to unacceptable levels in a little winter sun so particular attention must be given to ventilation.Fruit:
You can plant bare rooted fruit trees and bushes in December and prune apple and pear trees. Cut down canes of autumn-fruiting raspberries which have finished fruiting and burn to prevent fungal diseases spreading.
Now is a good time to plant rhubarb crowns which will benefit from being left out to be frosted before planting.
Check any young trees are well supported with stakes and ties. Stakes can tend to work loose, which means they won't be doing their job of preventing wind rock loosening the roots.
You can prune your apple and pear trees now.In the greenhouse:
Successional sowings of winter salads can continue. Ventilate on warmer days to prevent moulds getting established.
Seed Order:
December is the traditional month to go through the seed catalogues, decide what you want to grow and make a list. Then realise you'll need 10 times the room to plant everything you want to grow!
Click here for a list of UK seed suppliers on the site. Thompson & Morgan also supply Canada, the USA and most of the world.
Source: Vegetable Growing Month By Month by John Harrison