SEEDS TO SOW IN NOVEMBER

Let’s be honest, November is a busy month. Christmas will be here in the blink of an eye and we are trying to get all of our to do lists completed by the end of the year at both work and at home so no one would blame you for not having a lot of spare time to garden. However, in the interests of saving a bit of time next year and getting ahead here are a few things we are sowing this month that will take no time at all but that we will be so thankful for next year!

Garlic – if you haven’t already planted your garlic then add this to your list for this month. We prefer to sow our garlic in pots in the greenhouse and then plant out into the ground in early spring. We do this to protect the cloves in the wet winter weather as garlic does not like waterlogged soil.

Onion Sets – Whilst autumn planting sets can be sown directly into the ground, we opt to sow ours into modules and keep in the greenhouse over the winter. Just like garlic, this is to avoid the sets sitting in waterlogged soil over the winter and it also reduces the chances of them being nibbled by birds and mice!

Sweet Peas – Sweet peas can be sown in both autumn and spring. Autumn sowings will allow the plant to develop stronger root systems which will lead to more robust plants. We like to sow both in the autumn and again in the spring as we don’t think you can ever have enough! We sow our sweet pea seeds into 8cm pots and sow three seeds per pot.

Broad Beans – There are a few varieties such as our Aquadulce which are great for sowing now and overwintering followed by further sowings in the spring. You can sow direct into the ground but I prefer sowing into pots in the greenhouse and find that I have a much better success rate doing it this way.

Oriental Salads – We love having a constant supply of salad leaves and will be making a sowing of oriental leaves like Chinese Mustard, Spinach and Mizuna this month – these will be grown in the greenhouse but you can also grow them on a sunny window sill.

Peas – If you want to get a head start on your peas then try sowing some Kelvedon Wonder peas in pots in the greenhouse to overwinter.

Happy Sowing!

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