"There are no gardening mistakes, only experiments"

Janet Kilburn Phillips

It's still Autumn!

Hi Everyone.

Everywhere I go I seem to meet people that say, "Doesn't it get dark so early now", or "Four o'clock and it's dark already" and yes, it is a bit depressing. But you can think of it this way, we only have seven weeks left before the days start getting longer...not convinced? Well, you can't say I didn't try!

So what have we got in store for you this month.

What to sow and grow in November.

Mushroom to spare!

Chris's netting & fleece tips.

And lastly, Lottie news.

🥦🍅🥒🌶🍠🌽🍓🫑🫐🍐🥕

What to sow and grow in in November.

This month is very much like last month. The main things to direct sow is Garlic and Broad Beans, or if you'd prefer, you can start them off in modules under cover and then plant them out in a couple of weeks when they have germinated.

What I forgot to mention last month is that you can also sow some Hardy Peas. Varieties like 'Meteor' and 'Douce Provence'. I've just sown some in some root trainers, once they are a couple of inches high I'll plant them out and when the weather gets really cold, I'll cover them in fleece. They won't do much over the winter, but when spring arrives they will shoot up and give a welcome early harvest.

It's still not too late to plant some overwintering Onion sets, both White and Red Onions, Shallots as well.

And lastly, if you have a poly tunnel, greenhouse or cold frame you might want to keep sowing some of the short season crops like Hardy Lettuce, Salad Leaves, Mustards, Pak Choi and even some Spinach for baby leaves.

Growing Mushrooms.

I've always fancied growing mushrooms, but never quite got round to it. This winter might be the year though as there will be a free workshop at Barnes Common growing project on Saturday 15th November at 10am. I'll be there and if you'd like to come and join us just click the link below for more details and how to book.

Click HERE for the Mushroom workshop and if you get a chance to see the film 'Fantastic Fungi' take it as it's amazing! You can see the trailer below.

growing white oyster mushrooms in the greenhouse_ cultivation_ mushrooms growth _ close up

Netting and fleece tips

So what's the difference between netting and fleece. Generally netting stops birds and insects like butterflies getting to our produce and fleece, as the name implies, keeps plants or the soil warm.

I always feel that the saying, "Buy cheap and you buy twice" helps here as there are many different qualities of both netting and fleece. You want these items that you've forked out for to last you more than one season and not fall apart or tear by the end of the year.

So having used netting and fleece for well over a decade here's what I've found.

1st tip. Bird netting is not going to stop butterflies from getting to your Brassicas and some cheap butterfly netting won't even stop the smaller Cabbage white butterflies. The smaller the holes in the net the better. If you want to stop all insects including the Allium Leaf miner and whitefly then you have to get Veggiemesh. This looks very much like fleece but it's made of a slightly different and more hardwearing material.

2nd tip. You only need to net your Brassicas and fruit bushes (from the pigeons and butterflies) once the fruit has started to ripen. So we're talking Currant bushes and Gooseberries etc. Although Spinach, Swiss Chard and Lettuce are not Brassicas, they will probably at some point need to be netted because of hungry pigeons...they love their green leafy veg!

3rd tip. Don't forget to stake your netting down all the way around at ground level. It's really sad to see wildlife having crawled through a gap and got themselves tangled up and unable to escape. Over the years on the allotment site I've seen lots of birds, squirrels, and a hedgehog all needing someone to come and rescue them.

4th tip. With horticultural fleece, as it's known, it's good to find out what weight of fleece you are going to buy. The best one is a 30gm weight. Fleece not only keeps your seedlings and overwintering veg warm, it can also protect from unfavourable weather conditions like hail and frosts.

5th tip. This last tip is one I try and do myself, but never seem to get round to. If you have several pieces of netting of different sizes, when you put them away or if you don't need them, it's good to roll them up neatly, tie them with a bit of twine and label them with the size. So unlike me you won't have to unravel and straighten out several bits of net before you find the right size that you need.🥴

Lottie News!

Although the poly tunnel is still reaching up into the high 20's, in fact today got up to 28C, the last of my Tomatoes are still quite green. The outside ones have now finally succumbed to blight, so they have been cut down and composted. I just wish I'd harvested them a few days ago for Chutney, but hindsight is such a wonderful thing. I'm now keeping a beady eye on the ones inside the tunnel in the hope that the Tomatoes will at least show the beginnings of them turning red. I'll then pick them and take them home to hopefully ripen on the windowsill.

Inside the poly tunnel I sowed some Autumn Carrot seeds in a big 12" pot and I hope to get at least a few Baby Carrots to see me through the winter. In my greenhouse at home quite a few Broad Beans and Field Beans were sown and they've already started to germinate. I also did some 'All Year Round' Cauliflowers and some overwintering Onions, although I feel I'm a bit late with the latter. Perhaps I should get some Onion sets from the garden centre and take the pressure off a bit.

The Yacon started to flower a couple of weeks ago. They look like miniature sunflowers. I'm hoping this is a sign that the Tubers are ready to dig up. That's going to be a job and a half. Watch this space.

I finally strung up my Onions and now have them hanging in my kitchen. And I picked my very last Cucumber...summer is well and truly over. The compost that was delivered last month has been put on about half of the beds so far and as the other beds become vacant the rest of it will go on; giving the soil some well needed nutrients.

The Collard Greens were planted in between a few Spring Cabbages and I marvelled at the deep red colours of my Blueberry bushes as they bathed in the sunlight.

If you have a food gardening question you'd like to ask just pop me an email and I'll see how I can help. I don't proclaim to be an expert, but I will do my best to answer any of your questions.

In the meantime, if you know of anyone who might like to become a FG4A member do feel free to forward them this email and get them to visit the website and sign up, it's free!

Or you can always catch up with what I've been up to on Facebook or instagram.

Take care.

Christine x

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