Sunday 3 November 2013

November and the garden is still producing


When I think of a veg garden in November, I think of a dormant garden with very little on offer. 
But this is far from true. On my walk through the garden today, I found there was a great deal to choose from even in this cold month.



Outdoors there is the choice of :

Radishes
Leeks
Lettuces
Cabbages
Turnips
Carrots
Parsnips
Beetroot
Artichokes
Peas


So I brought in a large head of cabbage for dinner, to be served with slow cooked home produced pork, and a half bucket of artichokes.

The veg beds needs a good tidying up, but it will have to wait till February. We will dig up all the beds and add manure to then then. Also we need to recover the polytunnel in spring before we start seed beds. 


The pigs enjoyed the veg waste that I throw into their sty this morning. Nothing goes to waste. I am finding that with the recent heavy rain, there is no need to clean out the sty at all. 
The fall (slope) runs to the manure heap and the rain is washing away all waste perfectly, and the roof gutter fills up their water regularly. They are very very low maintenance. I did question our wisdom in over wintering pigs but I am pleased so far. 
I like winter to be quiet and indoors. Who wants to be outdoors in cold wet weather? Not me!
I prefer to be indoors by the fire. Trying out new recipes from loved cook books and trying my hand at various craft projects. Or simply put, taking it easy!


It was such a nice day today that the bees were flying. There won't be many more days like this one. I didn't see any activity from the rehomed nuc. I don't expect them to survive winter as they failed to requeen.

Over the next month or two, we hope to finish off the cow yard, to have it ready for a new cow in the new year. Fingers crossed xxx





 



3 comments:

  1. Like you we still have veggies in the garden...But peas in November really is impressive!
    We haven't had pigs for years. Looking at yours makes me wants to have another go.
    Gill

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  2. It's nice to still have homegrown available isn't it. We have Leeks, Carrots, Kale, Spinach, Cabbage and a few other bits and pieces, hopefully the carrots and Leeks will stay in the ground until the first really hard frosts.

    I 'm glad the design of your pig sty is working as we are thinking of building something very similar and have saved pictures of yours. Our pigs, when we get them in a couple of years, will live mainly in the woodland but I really do think a solidly built sty is good to have available, both for farrowing and for the wettest part of the Winter.

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  3. We are so pleased with the sty. They will have the adjoining cow yard when that is finished.
    I was thinking about knocking through a gate to separate veg garden. I could get the to dig, fert and harvest patches as I needed ;-)
    I am surprised by how much veg we still have in nov considering we don't have a functioning tunnel. But I guess the weather has been mild with no hard frost yet

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