Kitchen Garden November 2021

The growing season may be winding down a little, but you’ll be pleased to know that there is still plenty to keep you busy both outdoors in the fresh air and in your polytunnel or greenhouse right now. For example, this is a prime time to plant garlic and on page 30, KG staff writer Tony Flanagan answers some of the most common questions readers ask when setting out to grow this useful crop for the first time, while on page 37 top gardener Rob Smith reveals his must-have herbs for the winter months and how to grow them. David Patch suggests suitable varieties for those who would love to plant some fruit this winter but who may think they lack the space, while forest gardener Alan Carter tells us…

KEEP HARVESTING KALE Lower leaves will discolour and fall once hard frosts become the norm. Pick middle-sized leaves, but take care not to strip plants too hard and don’t take out the growing points if you want to keep harvesting through until May. COVER VULNERABLE PLANTS Use cloches, covers and frames to protect vulnerable plants. Autumn planted onions and garlic do best with some protection, as do salad crops. New sowings should be given some protection from the start. PUT AWAY STRUCTURES Bean frames, support canes, unused cloches, seats and tables can all go away in a shed for the winter. It is a good idea to clean and re-treat any wooden structures so they will be ready to use when they are brought out again next year. SOW BROAD…

■ HIDDEN SLUGS Check between the leaves of cabbage and lettuce plants to find any hidden slugs. They enjoy the protection of living in the heart of their food source – you can catch them after dark if you go out with a torch. ■ WATERLOGGED SOIL Plant roots will rot if they are left to stand in waterlogged soil for too long. It is worth raising plants on mounds if you get wet winters, or dig a few drains to take water away from your garden beds. ■ CANKER AND DIE-BACK Start pruning fruit trees by cutting out any diseased or dead branches. Do this before hard frosts arrive if you want to avoid die-back at the pruning cuts. You can prune for shape and fruit production later, but…

WHAT TO DO NOVEMBER ■ It’s important to remove old summer crops as they come to an end so that you can clear the ground and start preparing for next year. ■ Bring pot-grown peaches and nectarines under cover for winter to reduce peach leaf curl next year. ■ Sow dwarf, early varieties of peas into prepared ground for an early crop next year. ■ Use fleece or low cloches to give extra warmth and protection to young seedlings to help them establish in cold weather. ■ If you have a heated bench, sow salads, chard and leaf crops to harvest through winter as baby leaves. HARVEST THE LAST TOMATOES Although my tomatoes have grown well this year, the season was slow to get going because of the very cold…

■ As you start to clear out old tomato plants that have been grown in the soil border, it’s important that you fork out as much of the old root system as possible. After removing the main root, I fork through the soil several times to pick out smaller roots. This won’t guarantee that you won’t get root disease problems in the future, but it will certainly help to keep them at bay. ■ On fine, mild days ventilate greenhouses and polytunnels to keep the air fresh and to help prevent a build-up of condensation which can become a problem in autumn and winter. ■ If you insulate your greenhouse for winter with bubble polythene, now is the time to get it fitted before the weather turns cold. The insulation…

WILDFLOWER SEED SHORTAGE Non-profit wildflower company Seedball is continuing to report a surge in wildflower seed orders as people have spent more time at home and in the garden due to the pandemic. However, this increase in demand, together with a poor harvest last autumn, has contributed to a shortage in supply across the UK. Seedball co-founder and director, Dr Emily Attlee, said: “Unfortunately, the harvest did not produce enough seeds to meet the demand, following the unusually hot spring in 2020. With increasingly variable and extreme weather patterns being recorded, and dire climate change reports, there may be further seed shortages on the horizon. The impacts of rising temperatures on wildflower growth reinforces the urgency for all of us to push climate change much higher up on the agenda.…