November in the backyard vegetable garden Crop Rotation Cycle

Busy time in the backyard vegetable garden.

Bed 1.

November is an inspiring month in the backyard vege garden. Everything starts to grow and you might even start getting to harvest some of the fruits of your labour!  Certainly up in the warmer climes your broad beans will be getting ready to pod.  Liquid feed as they gear up to fruit. No more sowing broad beans though – they prefer the cooler growing weather.

Just about everything can go in now that it has warmed up. Sow beans directly into warm soil. I have beans sown last month that are up – germination will increase this month with the warmth.  I will plant some more corn plants this month in that bed and push a climbing bean beside it as a support.  Otherwise use bamboo or wood stakes to form support. I am trying out organic Borlotti beans as well as the regular French butter and green beans.  Get the kids out planting beans and peas.   Dwarf beans are a good option as you won’t need to stake them. A row of green and a row of butter beans looks good on the plate.

Bed 2.

Keep sowing and planting lettuces and other green leafy vegetable. If you like the sowing thing start sowing brassicas to be ready for summer planting and winter eating. I have put some plants in and will watch and see how they do with the pesky white butterfly and it’s equally pesky green offspring around. Some people wait until autumn to plant out when  the threat is over.  All gardens are different so get to know your garden. Observe what goes on and when and make notes in your diary. This is the way to learn what works and what doesn’t.  Think about how some plants grow to maturity earlier than others – in this bed you can have quick growing lettuces interspersed or in a row next to your slower growing brassicas.  Plant your other green leafy crops such as silver beet, asian greens etc as well. Keep sowing for regular planting.

Bed 3.

If it was too cool or windy at Labour weekend then get your tomatoes in the first few weeks of November. Make sure they go into a warm spot – either protected by wall or in a hot house of some sort. They are gross feeders so should be loving all the manure you put in over winter and now well rotted. Keep moisture up until fruit set next month.  Also plant capsicums and chillies and auburgine.  Plant out your earlier grown courgettes, pumpkins, cucumbers  or sow direct into the ground.  Sow basil in any gaps – this herb is more like a green leafy vege in cultivation needs – it prefers warm rich soil rather than the dry bony soil of the more Mediterranean types.

Bed 4.

How are your early potatoes doing?  Mounding up is something you might have heard granddad talk about if you are a young gardener.  You will need to do this especially for your main crop. Use extra soil dug from beside each row – you will quickly learn why you need a bit of space between rows! If you have plenty of compost use that and top off with straw or mulch of some kind. The reason you mound up potatoes is to provide extra growing area and increase your crop. The plants will grow further and therefore have more tuber growing capacity. It also stops those spuds near the surface to not turn green. You don’t want to eat the green bits as they are poisonous.  Hopefully your early planted potatoes are going to contribute to Christmas dinner! 

Get your kumara in if you are in the warmer northern parts of the country. As with potatoes you might like to have a separate bed somewhere else if you have the room but if you can slip a row in – go for it. Traditionally you plant Kumara when the Shining Cukoo starts to call in spring.  They will take up to 5 months to mature though so if you still haven’t heard the bird – plant anyway!

Meanwhile in the other parts of your root crops bed dig over the part you want to grow your carrots, beetroot or parsnip in.  It is important that this is well cultivated as these root crops don’t like lumpy bumpy soil. They want their strong root to go down directly into the soil.  Sow direct into the ground. Once your bed is nicely dug over, firm up the bed (seeds like firm soil to anchor into) then make a furrow.  Carefully sow the fine seeds down the row.  Some people mix with sand to make it easier but otherwise use your forefinger and thumb to space out as much as you can.  Later on you will thin them out. I read somewhere that an old timer warned against touching parsnip seed with your bare hands. I should experiment with that but it could explain why parsnip can be a little difficult to germinate.  Once you have sown this seed cover with a thin layer of soil, water gently but well and then cover the row with a wide board, hessian sack or similar to protect while germination takes place. Keep watching though and remove the covering as soon as the seeds start to emerge.

Jobs for this Month

Sow:  All leafy green salad veges such as lettuces plus winter veges such as cabbage, cauli, broccoli etc. Beans can be sown direct 15 cm apart and 5 cm deep. Sow beetroot seed about 1 cm deep. Carrots. Sweet corn 15cm apart groups to aid wind pollination. Main crop potatoes.

Plant: Plant out seedlings you have been growing indoors in pots as weather warms and days get longer. Onions, pumpkins, tomatoes, capsicums, courgettes, celery.

Cultivate: Keep weeds at bay by hoeing or hand weeding. Mulch. If your early potatoes are up you can mound up now and mulch with straw.

Harvest: Broad beans, asparagus, lettuces, silver beet and lots more.

Fertilise: Keep the liquid fertilizer up to your garlic bulbs as they will be putting on some size underground now.