In The Vegetable Garden This November

Lift parsnips after the first frosts, when their flavour will have sweetened.

Keep planting onion, shallot, and garlic sets. Dig over heavy soils adding organic matter before planting.

Prepare a perennial vegetable bed to plant up with Rhubarb plants and asparagus crowns.

Build a metal raised bed while the garden is clear to take the back-breaking bending out of vegetable growing.

Spread well rotted farm manure across the surface of your vegetable beds to rot down over winter.

Stake top-heavy brassica and leafy green plants. Draw up some soil around the base of their stem to prevent wind from rocking the plant and causing damage to the roots.

Place a scaffold plank on the ground along the main access route into your plot. This allows access but prevent the soil compacting as you walk across it.

Check stored potatoes and remove any that are rotting. Use hessian sacks to store your potatoes to allow the crop to breathe.

Top Tip:

Check over your summer harvest of onions and garlic, removing any rotting bulbs immediately. The neck of the bulb is usually the first area to rot. Try using onion bags to improve air flow around the bulbs.