Vegetable Garden Update – November 2021

I’ve been crazy busy in the garden this month. Not much happening in terms of the plants but I’ve cleared lots and lots of old rotten wood and overgrown ivy.

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Vegetable Garden Beds 1 & 2

The last of the years rocket and mustard have gone to seed so I’ve pulled them out. There’s a last parsley plant that seems to be nice and healthy so far. The Radicchio is doing nicely too.

There are a few carrots in bed 2. I’m saving these for Christmas.

There’s also a few spring onions that I missed harvesting because they were hiding between my beetroots. I’m hoping the might survive the winter and fatten up in early spring. Although I may also decide not to risk it and harvest them sooner, it depends on what I fancy eating.

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Vegetable Garden Beds 3 & 4

Nothing to see here!

Both bed 3 and 4 are empty. I’ve added a layer of compost from the various containers I had dotted around the garden. I’ve also given the beds a good hoeing so they are all ready for planting next year.

I believe I’m planning to plant brassicas and roots on these two garden beds.

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Vegetable Garden Bed 5

I’ve given my brassica bed a good tidy up. Most of my broccoli and my solitary brussels sprout had fallen over so I’ve given them all a little extra support. Next year I need to plant them deeper into the compost.

I keep thinking the broccoli has finished and then the next week I get another portion or spears.

The early varieties seem to be nice and healthy so I’m hopeful for a good harvest next spring.

Most of my cabbages fell victim to the dratted slugs. I just had enough coffee grinds to protect one row and these have recovered for the most part. I’m crossing my fingers for some spring cabbages.

Next year I need to be sure to protect my brassicas from slugs as well as the leafy greens. I have found a new method for breaking up my egg shells and keeping them stored for longer so I’m saving as many as I can over winter to help protect those early sowings.

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Vegetable Garden Bed 6

I’ve had problems with slimy leeks. Apparently it’s caused by the leeks freezing and then defrosting. This breaks down the cell structure and makes them go slimy as if they were rotting. Thankfully it only seems to be one variety that’s affected. Some varieties are more resilient than others. Hopefully my records were accurate enough for me to identify the variety, although I don’t hold out much hope!!

I didn’t earth up my leeks this year as I had no idea I was supposed to! But I think next year I will try this technique as I think it will insulate them better.

Because of the problems I’ve had with the leeks I’m planning on harvesting them in the near future. Potato and Leek Soup recipe to follow!

The parsnips are chilling here until Christmas.

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Vegetable Garden Beds 7 & 8

These two back beds have been failures this year. There’s a few parsnips clinging onto life despite the slug attacks that have devastated everything else I’ve planted here.

But I’m choosing to look on the bright side. Thanks to this catastrophic failure I have learnt new techniques for controlling the slug population. I have cleared soooo much slug habitat from this corner of my garden. The wooden planks I used to mark out my beds have all gone. The pile of old wood stored in the corner has gone too.

But most of all I have declared war on the ivy that constantly invades my vegetable plot.

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Ivy Clearing

I realise that this still looks like an ivy covered mess but I kid you not, this week alone I have removed a mass of ivy about the size of a small car. The roots have daisy chained all over this area which is right behind my vegetable patch.

It had overrun the old rotten wooden fence which was just making it difficult to cut back the ivy. So the fence provided Bonfire Night entertainment for the children (as well as butt warmer for the adults) and now I’ve been able to get in and clear a good chunk of the overgrown ivy.

I’ll keep chipping (by which I mean chopping and ripping) away at it. Probably for the rest of my life. There is a LOT of ivy surrounding my garden, this is just one tiny corner.

I have finally decided to replace the wooden fence with a traditional iron railing. It’s going to be quite expensive but it will look fantastic as there is already some old fashioned iron railings. They appear to have survived the war which is very rare, I guess we are too far out of the town for the iron collectors to bother coming for them. I’ve been racking my brains for a while to come up with a fencing solution that would allow light into my vegetable patch and not create a habitat for the dratted slugs. But I still need something that will prevent my children from getting too close to the road and deter trespassers. Hopefully it doesn’t break the bank too much!

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Herb Garden

I’ve cut back most of the herbs ready for winter. The sage is still flourishing so I’ve left that. Hopefully it will survive until Christmas so I can have fresh sage in my sage and onion stuffing. But just in case I have taken some for drying.

Here’s the blog post I’ve written on how I dry my herbs using a super simple old fashioned technique.

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Fruit Patch

I’ve cut back all the strawberry plants ready for next year. I think I need to give my lavender a trim too and my gooseberries. I need to do a little reading first and learn how much to cut back. I have a tendency to prune far too lightly.

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I do hope my Vegetable Garden Tour has inspired you to have a go at growing your own and given you some ideas.

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