November 2021
Sowing, Planting & Preparation
01 - 07 November
05 November 2010 – Bonfire Night
We’d been hoping for a dry night on Bonfire Night in order to get rid of some old coppiced branches that had become brittle and were no longer any good for supports. These were all moved onto plot 30 early in the afternoon.
I’d also got some old fencing panels and pallets to get rid of but I thought they were too wet to burn.
However, once the fire took hold and all the old branches had been added to the fire I decided to add the old fencing panels and see what would happen.
The heat from the fire was enough to burn the old fencing and we decided to leave the remains to burn out once it was dark.
08 - 14 November
Monday, 08 November 2010
Visited the plot in the afternoon to do a little bit more tidying up. First thing was to check what remains of the bonfire from last Friday night.
There was almost nothing left just a few bits and pieces to remove before the bed is dug over. The rest of the afternoon was spent clearing a couple of beds on plot 28/29.
The bed on the right was edged and the soil just raked over to incorporate the grass trimmings left after the path was strimmed. This bed should dig over easily next spring. The soil seemed in good condition. The bed to the left was cleared of its crops of Mooli and Swedes.
Once again our swedes failed to produce any decent roots. We are not sure what size the Mooli should be. We brought them home to try.
Saturday, 13 November 2021
Our main task for the afternoon was to cut down the old cardoon stems, edge around the bed and remove any weeds.
The soil was in good condition so hopefully the bed will be okay for planting up in spring without much extra work.
The dwarf French beans were removed from plot 42. They’d failed to produce any beans at all this year.
Once again any weeds were removed and the beds were edged. The soil was in good condition. I didn’t feel it was necessary to dig over the bed.
Finally we gave the same treatment to a bed on plot 28/29.
Again the soil was in good condition and wasn’t given an autumn dig. Hopefully, the bed will be okay for planting up in spring without too much effort.
15 - 21 November
Monday, 15 November 2021
All our dahlias were lifted and placed upside down in the plot greenhouse.
The new tubers that we bought in spring 2021 were dug up first from plot 28. These were placed upside down at the far end of the plot greenhouse to dry out.
The remaining dahlias on plot 28 that we had been given were placed centrally in the greenhouse to dry out.
Finally, the dahlias from plot 41 were lifted. These are our old tubers which we have had for a few years now.
The plan is to leave the tubers for a week or so before covering them with hessian sacks and enviromesh to protect them from winter frost.
The beds still need to be dug over and any remaining plants and weeds removed.
Thursday, 18 November 2021
Managed to dig over one bed on plot 30. It needed digging over by hand to break up the lower layer of soil. The ground was left rough for the winter weather to break down.
Sue cleared the weeds and any plant remains from 3 beds on plot 28.
The beds still need to be edged and the paths given a last strim for the year.
Friday, 19 November 2021
I managed to get the apple hedge cut back at the allotment. It’s always cut back rather roughly but the hedge has survived its cut back like this for over 30 years and it still produces enough apples for us even if they are only small.
Sue cut down the remaining sweet corn canes on plot 41 and then dug up the roots. The bed still needs to be dug over.
Besides clearing this bed the winter onions were weeded.
The cauliflowers in the brassica bed on plot 41 were cleared. They had blown months ago in the dry weather. We still have a few Cabbice cabbages to harvest in this bed. The part of the bed nearest the sweet corn was dug over. The roots from the sweet corn and cauliflowers were left on the plot to be moved to the council garden waste recycling bin when collections begin again in March.
The netting protecting these brassicas from wood pigeons was removed. Hopefully, the few cabbages remaining to be harvested will survive.
Sunday, 21 November 2021
On a cold November afternoon, our aim was to start cleaning a bed on plot 41 that had Apache potatoes in it. In August and early September, the ground had been too hard to dig out the potatoes. To make matters worse we knew that the old strawberry bed had lots of bindweed and wick grass in it.
I was pleased that we managed to get the potatoes and weeds out in one afternoon. The ground dug over pretty well much better than I thought it would. It will need digging over again in spring to remove more roots that we are bound to have missed.
I wasn’t sure what to do with all the bindweed roots we had dug out. We decided to leave them to dry on some frames off the ground.
Once they’ve dried out I’ll decide what to do with them.
22 - 30 November
Tuesday, 23 November 2021
Another short afternoon at the allotment today. The nights are drawing in quickly now so our time at the plot has to be carefully timed.
Sue cleared away the remains of the squash and courgette plants from the small bed on plot 30. Soil looks in decent condition for next season.
These 3 beds on plot 30 were edged. They had been cleared of weeds and plant debris a week or so ago. Again the soil appears to be in good condition. The grass was strimmed yet again. It doesn’t seem to want to stop growing.
Our dahlia tubers were turned the right way up and covered with hessian sacking and then several layers of enviromesh. A piece of wood separates the old and new dahlias.
Sunday, 28 November 2021
Sunday saw our first snowfall of the winter. There was also plenty of rain which will put a stop to the progress we had been making at the allotment.
