November in the Garden

'No shade, no shine, no butterflies, no bees,
No fruits, no flowers, no leaves, no birds -
November' - Thomas Hood 1799-1845.

November is rather a sad time in the garden with everything dying down so have a jolly bonfire to get rid of the small branches and woody stems that are not suitable for shredding. The ash resulting can be spread on the vegetable plot or around treasured plants to protect them from slugs.

Give the compost heap a stir and spread already made compost and leaf mould as a mulch around your borders.  Keep raking up the fallen leaves and store them in wire cages while they rot down or put into black plastic sacks then add some water and pierce the bag to let air in. Store the bags behind the shed or greenhouse out of sight. This will be ready for use in 2 years.

We have just had our first meal using this year’s Jerusalem artichokes. I scrubbed them put them in a saucepan of water with a dash of lemon juice, acidulated water, this stops them going brown. I boiled them for 2 minutes then drained and sliced them into a buttered cooking dish, poured cream over them and grated cheese on the top. This is an excellent way to cook artichokes. We also had our first leeks, considering all the rain they were not very thick. We are still harvesting kohl rabi, celeriac and spinach beet. The celeriac, which was looking wonderful from above, proved to be rather misshapen when lifted with less usable material and a lot of waste. More for the compost heap!

Check the pond pump and filters cleaning them if necessary. Remove any leaves from the surface and replace the net against more leaves and a visit from the herons. If you have had a bundle of straw against remove that and put on the compost heap. algae.

Anyone with time to spare can scrub up their pots ready for spring and put the seed trays in order.

Now is the time to make lists, all those plants that did badly could be replaced by something better. All vegetables that failed or became diseased can be noted. As this is the time to sit and read through your seed catalogues you can choose disease resistant varieties for next year. It’s rather exciting choosing the seeds for next year and the potatoes to grow.

For those artistic types or those of us just not prepared to pay the price you can make Advent rings or door wreaths but leave the table decorations till later.  Door wreaths can be made from wire twisted to form a circle then padded with moss, which should be tied on then soaked.  Next collect holly and ivy from the garden or hedgerows and pin around the ring with more wire. Any berries can be used if holly berries are in short supply to jolly it up and to finish with a red bow. Advent rings are slightly different in that you need to buy a plastic hollowed out circle this you fill with oasis.  Put in four candles for the four weeks of advent. Fill the oasis with wired holly stems, wired acorns and any other nuts or berries you can find and hey presto it’s done. All flower arranging supplies, oasis, frames and candles can be bought at HBGS at Evesham trading estate off the bypass.

rose (variety not known)


cyclamen coum

berberis

pyracantha" Mohave" (left) and "Orange Glow"


mahonia japonica