Planting in November

As the majority of the harvesting has come to an end, and I realise in the cold light of day that I haven't planted enough oriental salad or kurly kale to last the winter, I decided to pamper myself by indulging in a spot of polytunnel sowing. Yes, even this time of year theres something you can pop into a seed tray and hope for the best. I haven't done this before in November , but my Kitchen Garden magazine says its possible, so it must be true! As a relative newcomer to growing my own veg one of the best things we've done is to subscribe to a monthly gardening magazine. We do have a couple of great gardening books, but theres nothing like having a magazine land on your door mat packed full of things that really ought to be done this month. Theres no excuses for falling behind or forgetting things on the to do list.

So I've planted some 'aqua dulce' broad beans and some 'feltham first' peas in a seed tray which looks very lonely in the polytunnel. Hopefully these will have a head start in spring and provide an early harvest. In spring we will plant more peas and beans every 2 or 3 weeks, to provide a successional supply. Thats the plan anyway, it takes a bit of organising!

Comments

[El]

Rebecca: there's a great book about polytunnel winter gardening called Four-Season Harvest, by Eliot Coleman. Here's a link to their site: http://www.fourseasonfarm.com/

What's great about these two folks is they don't have a spring/summer garden with produce for sale: they only have fall/winter, in Maine, which is danged cold! So in love was I with their ideas that I built my own polytunnel with winter goodies sprouting in there.

I don't think it's too late for you at all, especially with lettuce crops.

[hedgewizard]

I'll second that, it's a cracking book. The best thing about it is that Coleman talks about all aspects of the garden and how polytunnels and cloches etc fit into it. HOWEVER - Maine receives more hours of daylight in winter than the south of france, and so tunnels there get a lot warmer than ours do. So be warned.

Yes, your seeds should sprout and although growth will be slow, they'll have a head start in the spring. You'll need to keep humidity down with good ventilation, and don't get soil splash on the seedlings as they'll be prone to damping off.

I've heard that you can improve growth by moving some of your chooks into the tunnel over the winter, as their body heat will raise the nighttime temps a little. Not spoken directly to anyone who's done it, though.

Going to see publisher in a fortnight - so expect questionnaire in a few months!

[Cindy at Rosehaven Cottage]

I have on my to-do list today, putting in my winter veggie seedlings. It's funny that I should then come to your blog and find you are plant your winter seeds as well! Good luck! Cindy

[Rebecca of Sallygardenns]

Very excited to get that top tip for 'Four Season Harvest', its going straight onto my wish list. Thank you.

Hmm. Interesting on the chicken front ... if they could be contained into a section of it, it would also improve egg production with it being so light compared to their shed ... but how to persuade them its THE new place to roost!

[Rebecca of Sallygardenns]

ps I've added that book into the Sallygardens bookshop here ;
http://astore.amazon.co.uk/aniricragooli-21?%5Fencoding=UTF8&node=6

[Maddy]

I love magazine subscriptions, it's such a treat when they arrive, a legitimate excuse to stop what you're doing, put the kettle on, and read the mail!

[ainur]

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