TIPS from our resident gardening expert TANYA PEARSON this issue include storing the last of your seasonal crops, planting over wintering crops, and collecting new seed before the onset of autumn.
THERE’s a chill in the air and our first frost is approaching as we well and truly embrace the British autumn. Before the first frost, there are crops that need to be removed from the garden and stored. Firstly, all of your onions and garlic should be pulled. Once they’ve dried out, store them by plaiting the stems together and hanging them up or by cutting off the stems and storing them in a net bag. Use any onions that have gone to seed up first. Secondly, this is your last chance to dig up your remaining main crop potatoes. Don’t wash them, but dry them off and then store them in paper or hessian sacks. Lastly, leaving a few inches of the vine attached so as to reduce the chances of rot, gather your squashes and pumpkins in. Store all of these in a cool, dark, well-ventilated place such as a cold shed or garage. Check regularly for mould and use damaged crops first. Speaking of onions and garlic, these can be sown now and will give you a slightly earlier and bigger crop, so they are certainly worth doing! It’s always nice to have some fresh greens in the dark winter months, I find, and in an unheated greenhouse, winter hardy salad leaves can be sown: mizuna, rocket, mustard, lambs lettuce and other winter lettuces to name a few. Choose a suitable over-wintering variety of broad bean seed such as Super Aquadulce and now is an ideal time to sow them. They can be sown directly into the soil, but this time of year is when rodents start to get hungry and broad bean seeds are a wonderful meal for a mouse! I prefer to sow my broad beans in pots or trays and then plant them out when they are 10- 20cm (4-8 inches) tall. You can also buy plug plants (but remember that Growers Organics is now closed until next year). Brassicas like to be rooted firmly in the ground, so keep an eye on them as some top-heavy crops such as purple spouting broccoli, Brussels sprouts and some kales may need supporting so their weight doesn’t uproot them. A cane for them to lean against works wonders and you can earth up around their bases to add extra stability too. I always finish picking my runner beans and French beans when I still have pods left on the plant. I leave these to fully ripen (go brown and papery) which then gives me my seeds for next year. They’re the easiest seeds to save. If the weather’s turned wet (we are in England, after all!), bring brown pods indoors and let them fully dry out before storing the seed. Happy growing, folks!
• A big thank you to all our customers who visited the nursery or our Totnes Market stall throughout the season, just to let you know we are now closed for the winter and will reopen mid February.
A tidy garden for a new season
BEFORE it’s quite time to start thinking about next season, I like to tidy up from this season first, giving me a clean and tidy growing area to start with next year. And now is a good time to do just that before the cold and wet weather really sets in… that is – if it hasn’t come early! Clear any old crops from the veg plot and add them to the compost heap so they can’t harbour pests and diseases over the winter. Remember any old cucumber and tomato plants from the greenhouse too. Now that I’ve mentioned it, clear the greenhouse out: remove any shade cloth and clean the glass to maximise as much of the weaker autumn daylight as possible. Sort through pots and trays (you know, that pile of unsorted ones you have from throughout the busy season), throwing out any broken ones, cleaning any that need it, and re-stacking them for easy use. Any tender plants that are in pots can now be brought into the greenhouse to protect them from the winter weather. Make sure to check the bottoms of pots and under the rims for our slimy garden friends – or perhaps ‘foes’ may be more accurate after this year… But as us gardeners say: there’s always next year.
Reconnect’s Organic Gardening column is written by Tanya Pearson of Growers Organics. Visit www.growersorganics.com, or call 01752 881180.