It’s been wet and windy, and spending time outside in the veg patch hasn’t been all that appealing. However, it’s frustrating feeling like you can’t get on and do things in the garden. With this in mind, here are a few quick jobs that you can easily do in between rain showers!
- Cut back herbs: Mint, oregano, marjoram, chives etc can be cut back and tidied up…they’ll come back again stronger and leafier!
- Pull up leeks: Check leeks – if the outer leaves are beginning to rot back, which they may well be with the soggy weather, then it’s worth pulling them up and storing them in a cool dry place so that you don’t lose the crop.
- Tidy up strawberry runners: It’s worth doing a quick check on strawberries to make sure the runners aren’t escaping and taking over. Quickly pull up or cut off any that are going rogue!
- Set slug beer traps: While temperatures remain above 5c, slugs and snails are still active, so top up any beer traps to protect winter crops.
- Move pots into sheltered spots: If you have things growing in pots, it’s worth moving them into a sheltered spot so that they don’t get waterlogged or hit by hard frosts in the next few weeks.
- Harvest celeriac before hard frosts: Once harvested it’ll store quite well in a cool, dry place.
- Harvest sprouts: If you see any beginning to mature or open up, you can either harvest them one by one from the bottom of the stalk, or cut an entire stalk and keep it in a cool, dry place to use for Christmas.
- Remove yellow brassica leaves: this is a really good job to do on a regular basis, to discourage slugs and other pests.
- Rake up leaves: collect them into a bin liner with holes pierced, or chicken wire cage to make a eat mould to use as a mulch.
- Cover empty beds: as you harvest root veggies and create spaces, cover the empty beds with black polythene for the winter.