I have been rambling as per usual without really giving any great garden advice so I thought that I would share with you some useful tasks "to be getting on with" as Monty tells us each week!
In the veg garden
If you have any squashes or pumpkins left in the garden, these can be harvested and ideally moved to the greenhouse to finish ripening and harden their skins. Don't forget when using them that the seeds can be washed and dried to use in salads or as snacks.
Finish planting onion sets and stake your brussel sprouts ready for the autumn gales (which we hopefully won't get!). If you have any space in your greenhouse, you can plant some peas to use the delicious shoots in salads and stir fries - I did this last year with some "out of date" Kelvedon Wonder peas and they produced delicious shoots which I harvested about three times from each plant throughout the winter - we then had a hot, sunny spell in March and the peas suddenly shot up and flowered - we had early peas by accident! I'm trying it again as I know at least I'll have the shoots to eat - shake the plants gently or use a soft paintbrush when flowering to help pollinate - even better, encourage insects to come in by planting attractive plants such as feverfew.
In the flower garden
With such lovely weather recently, it's too soon to start clearing your beds but if your perennials have become congested, some of them can be divided now such as hostas and daylilies - others are best left until spring. See here for more info.
There is still time to plant bulbs for lovely spring displays - bulbs are now reduced in many outlets but just check, by giving a gentle squeeze, to make sure that they are still firm before buying. Crocus and the smaller narcissus are easily planted around the front of your borders - just mark them to leave undisturbed when tidying your beds throughout late winter - no sooner if you can bare to hold off - tidy, bare beds are no use to wildlife - that's my excuse anyway!
Happy Gardening! x
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