November

The weather is heating up and there are more daylight hours. Transplant all the seedlings, plant the last of the summer seeds, stake up heavy fruit-bearing plants and tidy garden edges to keep away bugs.

Special attention
Flower heads for onions should be propped up to help with seed production.

Pinch off the tips of the runners for courgettes, cucumbers and pumpkins when six good leaves have formed. Pinch again at intervals to ensure there will be plenty of fruiting laterals and train them up a trellis.

If you think it is necessary, spray tomatoes within 10 days of planting to deter stem borer. Water seedlings carefully, ensuring the roots aren’t disturbed or left sitting in a pool of water, and mound up potatoes as they sprout.

Sow
In warm areas, directly sow beetroot, broccoli, carrots, courgettes, cucumbers, leeks, pumpkin, radish, silver beet, spring onions, squash, swede, sweet corn, tomato and turnips into the ground.
In cooler areas sow seeds of bok choy, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, carrot, cauliflower, celery, chicory, cucumber and Florence fennel under glass.

Sow dwarf French beans, butter beans and scarlet runners at intervals for successive harvesting. Make another sowing of runner beans, and stake the earlier ones which by now are commencing to climb.

Sow sweetcorn for summer dining. Group in two to three rows to help with pollination.

Keep up a supply of salad crops, such as lettuce, radish, mustard and cress, by small sowings once a fortnight. Sow chervil, chives, coriander, dill, parsley and sage.

Transplant
Plant out tomatoes, capsicums and eggplants. Plant out the earliest crop of celery. Plant broccoli, capsicum, cauliflower, kale and potato seedlings into the ground. Kumara cuttings or sprouted tubers should be put into the ground now. Plant in stacked tyres if you don’t have the space.

Protect
During this month deter carrot rust fly from laying eggs on the crowns of carrots. Spray and mulch between rows. Or minimise damage by sowing carrots and other root vegetables a bit later, when the carrot fly has cycled out.
Slugs and snails are out trying to eat as many tasty seedlings as they can find. Be vigilant and place Tui Quash everywhere in the garden where snails like to hide. Prevent them from getting to your valuable crop.

Harvest
Smaller broad beans will be ready for picking. Stop cutting asparagus spears by the end of this month.