November 2018 garden notes

Brassicas bed, Nov 2018

Roots

Harvested the (small) early leeks; they're not frost hardy, so had to pick them despite their size.  Long season/perennial leeks even smaller:  none of these harvested yet.

Started picking the celery:  good size, though not as big as last year.  Plenty more growing for the winter.

Planted 87 garlic cloves (from own grown garlic) in 2019's Roots bed (2018's  Brassicas).

Spread a load of partly composted chicken bedding (manure and straw) over the empty sections of this bed.

Peas and beans

Runner bean plants still standing, slowly maturing a few pods for seed;  one pod collected this month.

Brassicas

Staked purple sprouting broccoli, and attempted to stake Brussels sprouts.  Harvested a few sprouts this month, but no broccoli yet.  Harvested last cauliflower:  good size.

Transplanted curly kale out of the Holding bed to Brassicas and staked.  None harvested this month.

New spring cabbages growing a little;  the six in the cold frame more strongly than those in the garden.  Savoys at the allotment still growing, despite half of them wilting last month (some degree of wilting remains this month, and a couple have died).  Cabbage cuttings, few kohlrabi and Tuscan kale all growing slowly.  Harvested a small amount of cabbage regrowth (from last year's plants) this month.

Miscellaneous

Still picking a small amount of leaf lettuce, miners and lambs lettuces, and spring onion this month: all in containers.

Finished the achocha harvest (finally) by the end of the month, though the plants still left in situ.  Aztec broccoli finished, but also not cleared away--hopefully to drop seed for next year.

Harvested a couple regular and cherry tomatoes--a few more hanging on at the end of the month, despite most of the plants succumbing to frost.  Harvested a couple more red chilis, with some still ripening on the plants at the end of the month.

Harvested a modest amount of chard throughout the month.

Fruit

Nearly all fruit trees and bushes gone dormant by the end of the month, though there were still a few flowers and one tiny fruit on the yellow raspberry.  Finished eating the Sparta apples in storage.

Perennials and herbs

Only thyme and chives still have leaves by the end of November;  all other herbs finished/gone dormant.

All perennials gone dormant/died (hard to tell the difference this time of year), except artichoke which has strong new growth from the base;  I cut down the old growth at the end of the month.

I brought home some asparagus ferns with berries from the allotment communal waste, and put them down whole, covered, in my own Perennials section, but I think my three chickens might have found and eaten them all.  Also repatriated a handful of Jerusalem artichoke tubers;  not sure about the current state of these either;  the three chickens are free ranging through the whole of the garden, sans veg beds.