November 2024: Winter ground prep and ‘no dig’ process
1st November 2024
Winter Preparation
My first winter preparation job—the most important one—is to check the shed for draughts, inspect the gutters for leaks and blockages, replace the radio batteries, and gather my winter gloves (both warm and waterproof). And, of course, I ensure my supplies of coffee, tea, cuppa soups (with croutons, naturally), baked crisps, and mini cheddars are well-stocked. After all a boy has to keep his boiler stoked!
Harvest
Harvest and store all vegetables that won’t stand well in the soil over winter, like onions, shallots, beetroot, carrots, celeriac, cabbage, chicory, and potatoes. Maincrop carrots should be fine until temperatures fall below -3°C. It’s good to leave a bit of soil on root vegetables when storing them—DON’T wash them. All apples and pears should be harvested by November, as they’ll start to fall when ready. Store them in that mystical place that experts always mention: a dark, dry, airy place that’s neither too warm nor too cold. If you have somewhere cool and dry, that should suffice. I’m sure you will have just the place!
I store mine in the shed using stacked crates lined and topped with newspaper, covering them with fleece during frosty weather to encourage air circulation. This works well for me. I also dot mini chemical humidifiers around the shed to absorb moisture (found at B&M Store, Crossflats, Bingley, and similar stores for about £2 each). They work a treat! You can also store vegetables in thick paper sacks, flour sacks and the like. Make sure to check them weekly for any signs of rot.
Leeks, parsnips, and winter brassicas will be ok in the ground, though you might want to harvest a few in advance if frost or inclement weather is forecast. If you want them to stand throughout the whole winter, choose varieties labeled as “stands well” in seed catalogues.
Onions and shallots prefer warmth, so store them indoors, either plaited or in onion bags, and in both cases hung in order to ensure good air circulation. Store squashes with a 6-inch stem attached, in a warm place for 2–3 weeks to cure; they’ll then keep for several months. And, parsnips and some other veggies, like Brussels sprouts and spinach, taste better after frost.
Did You Know? Parsnips have a crafty way of protecting themselves from frost! When the weather turns frosty, they produce a liquid similar to antifreeze—happily for us, it’s harmless and adds a delightful sweetness. But in the absence of frost, please resist the urge to sprinkle car antifreeze on your sprouts! It’s not quite the same, and you will be lucky to survive the experience!
Autumn Clean
Leave no place for pests to hide in the garden and greenhouse/poly tunnel. Before overwintering tender plants, remove everything from the greenhouse, sweep out debris, and disinfect paths and staging, including the inside of the glass. A garden disinfectant, such as Jeyes Fluid, can prevent pests and fungi. (If you attended Amy from Harlow Carr’s talk, she showed us HORTISEPT PRO from firsttunnels.co.uk—definitely one to try!) Ventilate the greenhouse for a few days to dry thoroughly.
Also, clean pots and seed trays in preparation for spring sowing. There’s nothing worse than starting spring with a mountain of dirty pots and trays!
Tidy Up
Have a good go at weeds, as they’ll continue to grow during mild winter spells, and rake up fallen leaves, which are a haven for slugs and snails and we’ve all had enough of those this year thank you! Cut back faded perennials to about 5 cm above ground level, but don’t be too tidy—leaving some seed heads benefits insects, looks wonderful in autumn frost, and adds handsome silhouettes to your winter garden. Dig up and compost spent annuals.
Once your borders and beds are tidy, spread a 1-2 inch layer of garden compost or well-rotted manure. Don’t worry about digging it in; let the worms do the hard work!
If you’re planning to lime beds intended for brassicas, do so in autumn unless you’re adding manure as well. In that case, add manure in autumn and lime in early spring to avoid a reaction between the two.
If you can’t source manure or compost, sow cover crops (or “green manure”) like White Mustard or Field/Broad Beans (sown twice as close as normal) Frost will naturally break them down, or you can cut them down before they go to seed and leave the roots in the soil. If using a no-dig method, place the cut tops on your compost heap instead.
Note: the reason I sow the broad beans so close is that when the time is right I cut down every other plant at ground level and leave the remainder to grow on to maturity for (with a bit of luck) an early crop the following year.
No-Dig Principles
No Dig has worked well for me for several years now and the principles are simple. The idea is NOT to dig the soil at anytime to allow the mycelium network to remain intact. Mycelium, a type of fungus, has a beneficial symbiotic relationship with plants, improving water and nutrient availability. Think of it like a delicate spiderweb a few inches under the soil surface that connects your garden but it must remain unbroken.
DID YOU KNOW? The mycelium networks in very large ancient forests spread for hundreds of square miles? Just as well they aren’t spiders’ webs – can you imagine the size of the spiders?
- Weed and water beds if dry.
- Spread a 2-inch layer of well-rotted compost, manure or mushroom compost ONCE per year, anytime of the year. This should be sufficient and no need for additional feeding during the growing year.
- Harvest without uprooting plants. Twist and pull, leaving as much root in the soil as possible to rot down. Cut legumes at ground level and again leave roots in place.
- Reserve a couple of beds for potatoes, as they benefit from more depth. I also use a bed for sweet peas to allow trench composting.
- All my beds are no dig.
More Winter Tasks
If you sowed autumn crops or flowers recently as per last month’s fact sheet , you should have some planting out to do soon. Don’t forget to cover them with fleece or mesh throughout winter and check them weekly.
Repair bed edges, prune apple and pear trees, and tend to gooseberries and other fruit bushes. Attention to this will ensure more and better fruit next year.
How much to prune? Best advice I have ever been given was:
“when you have finished pruning the fruit tree a pigeon should be able to fly straight through the centre of it.”
Now I am not suggesting you shoo all the pigeons around towards your fruit tree, your imagination will suffice.
Plums only require a very light pruning to control their growth.
Strip tomatoes off the plants and put somewhere warm to ripen.
Planting and Pest Control
If you haven’t planted daffodils, tulips, overwintering onions, shallots, or garlic, now’s the time. Also pot on hardy annuals sown last month. Another good idea is to wrap grease bands around the trunks of your fruit trees to prevent the winter moth caterpillars crawling up into your tree throughout Winter and Spring and spoiling the fruit.
Place them about 18” above ground level.
You may also want to consider spraying your fruit trees with Winter Tar Oil Wash, although not very practical with large trees.
Until Next Month…
We are just about done for this month. I hope I haven’t bored you with all this information.
Next month the Factsheet subject is Seed Sourcing. In the meantime…
Keep Healthy, Keep Smiling, Keep Sowing.
Best Wishes,
Ramon 07594 456292
Plot 21 Silsden Road site