What To Do In November

Someone on the Facebook allotment group asked what they can do on their new allotment in November.

In some ways, this is the very best time of year to get an allotment. You can do all the preparation and put in the infrastructure at your leisure. By the time spring comes around everything will be in place for a fantastic season.

If your plot is full of weeds you can dig them out, as long as the ground isn't too wet, or frozen solid. Keep your eyes open as you go, though. There could be some established perennial plants dormant under the ground. If you discover any daffodil bulbs for example, or rhubarb crowns, anything like that, put them carefully back.

When your plot is all bare, decide where your beds are going to be, and what kinds of beds to want. You might want to lay paths between the beds, so do that now. You might want to build walls around your beds, of railway sleepers or bricks etc. Erect your compost heap. Erect a shed if you want one. Site your water butt and make sure it's on a firm level base.

Once you've got the beds laid out, you can double dig them to loosen the soil and prepare it for cultivation. This is the method I use for double digging - some authorities tell you to actually remove the earth to two spade depths, but I prefer to remove only one spade depth and fork the earth at the bottom. That keeps the topsoil on the top and the subsoil on the bottom. Plus it's a lot easier and quicker. But don't dig if the soil is really wet. It damages the soil structure and does more harm than good. Plus it's no fun at all.

You'll feel like you've done something worthwhile once you've done all that. But you don't want to leave bare earth over winter, as it could erode. I'd be inclined to cover it with mulch - whatever you can get your hands on. If you can get enough manure of compost to cover it, that'd be great. Otherwise old carpet or plastic sheeting, well pegged down against the winter gales. If you're quick about the weeding and digging you might still be in time to sow field beans instead, as a green manure. They'll cover the earth and also add nitrogen to the soil, and organic material when you dig them in in early spring.

You can plant soft fruit in winter. Get some raspberry canes, also black and red currants, and decide where you want your soft fruit bed to be. You can still plant garlic, onions and shallots. But mainly you want to relax with a selection of seed catalogues and plan next season.