Thursday, October 25, 2007

What To Do In November

Image and video hosting by TinyPicSomeone 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.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Phew im worn out reading that!
That was my intention last year but with all the rain we had in Jan/Feb i was playing catch up in march..I can still feel the pain ..HeHe

Anonymous said...

I loved being in the allotment at this time of year, I loved the crispness of the air and the planting of garlic and other bits and bobs. *sigh* But a Facebook allotment group! I'm going to join that right now...

David said...

Agree with laying out beds and paths. Don't bother digging though. Save your back and the soil structure. Cut everything back to get your compost heap going. Remove any perennial weeds, spread as much compost as you can get hold of (if none, spread what you've cut on the surface and cover with layers of cardboard).

The worms will do the digging for you and in the spring you'll be able to plant directly through the cardboard and mulch.

Anonymous said...

aaaa片, 免費聊天, 咆哮小老鼠影片分享區, 金瓶梅影片, av女優王國, 78論壇, 女同聊天室, 熟女貼圖, 1069壞朋友論壇gay, 淫蕩少女總部, 日本情色派, 平水相逢, 黑澀會美眉無名, 網路小說免費看, 999東洋成人, 免費視訊聊天, 情色電影分享區, 9k躺伯虎聊天室, 傑克論壇, 日本女星杉本彩寫真, 自拍電影免費下載, a片論壇, 情色短片試看, 素人自拍寫真,

做愛的漫畫圖片, 情色電影分享區, 做愛ㄉ影片, 丁字褲美女寫真, 色美眉, 自拍俱樂部首頁, 日本偷自拍圖片, 色情做愛影片, 情色貼圖區, 八國聯軍情色網, 免費線上a片, 淫蕩女孩自拍, 美國a片, 都都成人站, 色情自拍, 本土自拍照片, 熊貓貼圖區, 色情影片, 5278影片網, 脫星寫真圖片, 粉喵聊天室, 金瓶梅18, sex888影片分享區, 1007視訊, 雙贏論壇, 爆爆爽a片免費看, 天堂私服論壇, 情色電影下載, 成人短片, 麗的線上情色小遊戲, 情色動畫免費下載, 日本女優, 小說論壇, 777成人區, showlive影音聊天網, 聊天室尋夢園, 義大利女星寫真集, 韓國a片, 熟女人妻援交, 0204成人, 性感內衣模特兒, 影片, 情色卡通, 85cc免費影城85cc, 本土自拍照片, 成人漫畫區, 18禁, 情人節阿性,

免費成人影音, 彩虹自拍, 小魔女貼影片, 自拍裸體寫真, 禿頭俱樂部, 環球av影音城, 學生色情聊天室, 視訊美女, 辣妹情色圖, 性感卡通美女圖片, 影音, 情色照片 做愛, hilive tv , 忘年之交聊天室, 制服美女, 性感辣妹, ut 女同聊天室, 淫蕩自拍, 處女貼圖貼片區, 聊天ukiss tw, 亞亞成人館, 777成人, 秋瓷炫裸體寫真, 淫蕩天使貼圖, 十八禁成人影音, 禁地論壇, 洪爺淫蕩自拍, 秘書自拍圖片,

Anonymous said...

http://itgroup.blueshop.com.tw/xiannvxiafan20/fdg
http://blog.qooza.hk/fsdhgfjhgk
http://mypoitiers.com/3615/
http://www.x4hk.com/bbs/?56424/
http://www.taipei100.com/xspace/index.php?uid-1422
http://profile.qooza.hk/fdhgkjfdgh
http://www.maxparty.com.tw/4_5.asp?MemberID=88937607
http://itgroup.blueshop.com.tw/xiannvxiafan21/fdshgfk
http://fdshfgkjhl.blog.ithome.com.tw/
http://weare.hk/space/index.php?uid-123434
http://bokequn93204.blogcn.com/
http://bokequn93206.blogcn.com/
http://bokequn93209.blogcn.com/
http://bokequn93254.blogcn.com/
http://bokequn9343.blogcn.com/
http://bokequn9367.blogcn.com/
http://bokequn936.blogcn.com/
http://bokequn4378.blogcn.com/
http://www.souren.net/index.php?uid-22090
http://blog.soufun.com/bokequn93
http://blog.soufun.com/blog_25809320.htm
http://blog.soufun.com/blog_25809360.htm
http://blog.jink.cn/blog.php?uid-682.html
http://blog.jink.cn/blog.php?uid-683.html
http://blog.jink.cn/blog.php?uid-684.html

http://www.goodweber.com/?uid-5798
http://www.2bizon.com/xspace/?3324
http://xinsha.net/ss5/?uid-43496
http://www.mypoitiers.com/?

uid-3670

http://www.x4hk.com/bbs/?uid-56618
http://www.hkhobby.com/index.php/1361
http://blog.youth-online.com/?uid-11060
http://blog.qooza.hk/zoume45
http://www.maxparty.com.tw/4_5.asp?MemberID=88937609
http://blog.tbar360.com/oblog312/User200805/zoume45/ind

ex.html

http://www.taipei100.com/xspace/?uid-1450
http://itgroup.blueshop.com.tw/member/mbrFmyLst.aspx
http://zoume45.ublog.com.tw/
http://weare.hk/space/?uid-124650
http://zoume45.pixnet.net/blog

Anonymous said...

http://www.space.fungmusic.com/?63024
http://www.arlindreams.com/index.php?uid-243
http://www.mypoitiers.com/html/99/3599.html
http://www.x4hk.com/bbs/?56375
http://blog.qooza.hk/dasy
http://www.maxparty.com.tw/4_5.asp?MemberID=88937501
http://www.taipei100.com/xspace/?1412
http://funs.com.tw/?12323
http://www.2u.com.tw/index.php/uid/6003
http://blog.youth-online.com/?11010/
http://www.ebox.game.tw/?uid-1087
http://xinsha.net/ss5/?

43339

http://www.taipei100.com/xspace/?uid-1430
http://funs.com.tw/html/59/12459.html
http://www.hkhobby.com/?1327
http://www.2u.com.tw/index.php/uid/6184
http://funs.com.tw/html/97/12497.html
http://www.goodweber.com/?uid-5783
http://www.2u.com.tw/index.php/uid/6243
http://www.sheeee.com/?uid-38856
http://xinsha.net/ss5/?uid-43433
http://www.2bizon.com/xspace/?

3218

http://kc18.com/supesite/?uid-12766
http://www.mypoitiers.com/?uid-3659
http://www.x4hk.com/bbs/?uid-56543
http://blog.youth-

online.com/?uid-11053

http://www.taipei100.com/xspace/?uid-

1440

http://www.hkhobby.com/index.php/1348
http://www.blogfantasy.com/?9938/
http://blog.qooza.hk/wufeng45
http://www.maxparty.com.tw/4_5.asp?MemberID=88937577
http://blog.tbar360.com/oblog312/User200805/wufeng45/i

ndex.html

http://itgroup.blueshop.com.tw/member/mbrFmyLst.aspx
http://weare.hk/space/?uid-124307
http://wufeng45.pixnet.net/blog
http://wufeng45.ublog.com.tw/
http://tw.blog.urlifelinks.com/blog/xiannvxiafan20
http://www.taipei100.com/xspace/index.php?uid-1384
http://www.maxparty.com.tw/4_5.asp?MemberID=88937301
http://blog.tbar360.com/oblog312/User200805/xian

nvxiafan20/index.html

Anonymous said...

http://tw.blog.urlifelinks.com/blog/yworer
http://tw.blog.urlifelinks.com/blog/iprue
http://tw.blog.urlifelinks.com/blog/iowur
http://tw.blog.urlifelinks.com/blog/ipwurr
http://tw.blog.urlifelinks.com/blog/ipeur
http://tw.blog.urlifelinks.com/blog/oueri
http://tw.blog.urlifelinks.com/blog/sbddr
http://tw.blog.urlifelinks.com/blog/ieorur
http://www.maxparty.com.tw/4_5.asp?MemberID=88937521
http://www.maxparty.com.tw/4_5.asp?MemberID=88937522
http://www.maxparty.com.tw/4_5.asp?MemberID=88937523
http://www.maxparty.com.tw/4_5.asp?MemberID=88937524
http://www.maxparty.com.tw/4_5.asp?MemberID=88937526
http://www.maxparty.com.tw/4_5.asp?MemberID=88937527
http://www.maxparty.com.tw/4_5.asp?MemberID=88937528
http://www.maxparty.com.tw/4_5.asp?MemberID=88937529
http://www.maxparty.com.tw/4_5.asp?MemberID=88937530
http://iowuer.pixnet.net/blog
http://vkiero.pixnet.net/blog
http://owiup.pixnet.net/blog
http://owurn.pixnet.net/blog
http://aobye.pixnet.net/blog
http://boowei.pixnet.net/blog
http://mvieoe.pixnet.net/blog
http://onoei.pixnet.net/blog
http://bkoie.pixnet.net/blog
http://iimgie.pixnet.net/blog
http://ptoroe.pixnet.net/blog
http://www.blogfantasy.com/?9864/