November

November

In the greenhouse

• Wash off summer shading paint form your greenhouse and clean it inside and out
• Clean all your pots and seed trays in preparation for spring
• Clear old pots and grow bags, adding any surplus material to the compost heap
• Sow pots of hardy winter lettuce
• Insulate the greenhouse from frost, products such as bubble wrap works well

Fruit and vegetables

• Sow broad beans in early November for harvest in May or June
• Sow hardy peas or mange tout under cloches
• Cover herbs and salad plants with cloches to provide protection during winter months
• Prune out fruited blackberry canes and tie-in new shoots to replace them
• Spread a thick mulch of compost around fruit bushes and trees and along rows of cane fruits to improve the soil and help keep them cropping
• Harvest carrots to prevent pest attack. Cut back foliage to within an inch of the carrot, then store in boxes between layers of dry compost or sand

Tip: Parsley at the plenty

For fresh parsley throughout the winter, cover clumps with cloches now. These keep off frost and provide warmer conditions that keep the parsley producing new leaves. Alternatively, dig up clumps and pot on. These can then be kept in the porch or on a bright windowsill.