Jobs for November

The clocks have gone back and therefore my allotment hours have been drastically reduced. It’s dark when I wake up and dark when I come home from work, so this month more than ever I am hoping for rain-free weekends to get my jobs done. A lot of the work this month is in preparation for rewards next year.

• Creating leaf mould. Ever since I started collecting the fallen leaves from my garden and creating leaf mould I haven’t looked back. Free compost? Yes please! For anyone who doesn’t know what this is, basically collecting fallen leaves and storing them in a black bin liner (with holes for air flow) for a couple of years creates the most luscious compost; often referred to as ‘black gold’.

• Planting tulip bulbs. I’ve bought myself some Belle Epoque for the garden at home. This is a variety I’ve wanted to grow for a couple of years so I am looking forward to next Spring when these bloom! I will also be planting 100(ish) bulbs into one of the beds at the allotment for some cheerful colour and cut flowers come Spring.

• Setting the empty beds to rest for winter. I’ll do a quick weed then cover with a layer of cardboard and compost and leave to mulch over the winter.

• Pruning the fruit trees. Now this is something that I am going to need to do ALOT of reading about before I do it. I have no experience with pruning trees but it is evident that at least three of the trees at the plot need tending to…. wish me luck!