There is no denying November. Frost still mostly absent in the south will appear and rains are already heavier. Some of our neighbouring plots are huddled under cover. We are now divided at the allotments between those who’ll likely stay away till spring and the (admittedly fewer) obsessives like me. The plot addicts, if you will.
Howard saved the sunflowers. They had been hammered by a downpour. Drooping, a few straggling blooms, the leaves rusted, they looked a little forlorn. I had thought it time to cull them. I planned to save the seed heads but use the bed for transplanting late oriental leaves (a home-mix of tatsoi, pak choi, mizuna and mustards, mostly). Howard is an artist, my favourite photographer. He sees elusive beauty easily, so execution was stayed.
Then last week we were sowing autumn broad beans (Super Aquadulce) when we had an exotic visitor. A green parakeet was impatiently buzzing the site on its way to roosting further west. It swooped and landed on a sunflower (I suspect it’s a regular refuelling stop). It edged down the stem and started eating the seed. We watched transfixed just a few feet away. In short, the sunflowers stay.
November is the month to prune apple and pear trees, gooseberry and currants. We are getting late with onion sets. Reluctant to grow them at first, I finally succumbed and bought some, my hands itching for planting. Sturon and Radar are both reliable, though I’ve gone for red. I’m as yet undecided whether to add garlic or wait for February. It’s time for tulips, too. I’ve been scouring the Bloms, Peter Nyssen and Avon catalogues and sites, planning a colourful spring.
Mostly, though, I’ll potter about with the hoe, pick chards and chicory and come to terms with less to do.
Allan Jenkins’s Plot 29 (4th Estate, £9.99) is out now. Order it for £8.49 from guardianbookshop.com
