Organic Garden & Home Magazine

Harvest...

Apples, Jerusalem artichokes, Brussels sprouts, summer cabbage, cardoon, carrots (early and maincrop), winter cauliflower, celeriac, chard, chicory, kale, kohlrabi, lettuce, medlar, parsnips, pears, radishes, sorrel, spinach, swede, turnip.

Fruity facts:
The medlar (Mesphilus germanica) may have been brought to Britain by the Romans, and was cultivated during the Middle Ages. Medlars were enjoyed by diners who ate the bletted, or rotten, fruit, which was brought to the table in a dish covered with bran. The pulp was then scraped out to eat with sugar and cream and accompanied by port at the end of a meal. Nowadays medlars are more widely used to make medlar jelly.

Plant…

Autumn-sown broad beans and peas, garlic, onion sets and rhubarb. For broad beans a recommended variety is The Sutton AGM. It’s an excellent cropper and suitable for containers, raised beds and small gardens. For peas, try Waverex, which will give you lots of small, sweet peas that are well suited to freezing.

Plant any bare-root specimens, such as fruit and soft-fruit trees, roses and hedging, which are best planted during winter, while the plants are still dormant. Avoid planting in very cold or wet weather. Bare-root plants are only supplied from November to March. Planting early in the season (ie before Christmas) gives the roots the best chance to establish while there is still some warmth in the soil, ready to put on maximum spring growth.

• Much more in the magazine

Spot wildlife…

At the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust reserve at Welney in Norfolk, where you can see the UK’s largest flock of Bewick swans. Visit in the late afternoon so you can see the reserve’s floodlit feeding frenzy. For more information visit: www.wwt.org.uk/visit/welney

Jobs this month…

• When conditions are favourable dig over and manure your plot.
• Clean up fallen leaves and put them in a heap to make leaf mould (Oct 08 OG, p16).
• Make new compost heaps, or if you have an existing one cover it with polythene/waterproof sheeting.
• Check supports and wires, and ensure canes for fruiting plants are securely tied.
• Order any seed catalogues, potatoes and herbaceous plants for spring
• Fork over any heavy soil, so that it can ‘weather’ over the winter.

• Much more in the magazine

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