Harvest time

It’s the season pumpkins eaters look forward to: at last squashes are ready. Be sure to keep the stalks on, says Mary Lovell-Smith.

EDIBLES

• Harvest pumpkins, leaving the stalk attached, and store in a cool, dry place.

• All spent crops, such as pumpkin, courgette, tomato and corn plants may be cleared from the vegetable bed and, preferably, put in the compost bin. Cutting up some of the thicker stalks will speed up their decomposition. That said, many gardeners prefer to chop them down and leave them on the top of the soil to break down during winter. Leaving old tomato plants in situ is not advisable as any diseases they are prone to may overwinter in the soil.

• Any brassicas planted now are best covered with fine netting (even old net curtains are good) to protect them from the white butterfly. Leave nets on until plants are about 20cm tall, and not in such danger of being eaten all up.

• Carrots, onions, winter lettuces, radishes, swedes, and turnips may still be sown. As can coriander, parsley and rocket.

• Cut down asparagus stems to ground level before the berries ripen, weed and apply a seaweed-based fertiliser. • Feijoas and walnuts are reaching maturity. However, they should never be picked, rather wait till they fall, or in the case of the walnut, give the tree a good shake and the ripe nuts will drop of their own accord.

ORNAMENTALS

• Put the ornamental garden to bed by weeding then covering the soil with a hefty wad of mulch, such as peastraw, being careful not to smother perennials. Generally, bulbs will work their way through the mulch, but if you are worried they will not then use it sparingly around bulbs. (Many spring bulbs will be sending shoots up above the soil now, making it easy to know where they are.)

• In districts where peastraw is not readily available, oat or barley straw, pre-composted bark, leaf litter and, of course, compost are good substitutes.

• Mulch will protect vulnerable plants from frost or snow damage, keep in moisture, and of course break down to make the soil more friable. It will also suppress weeds. Perennial weeds such as twitch and convolvulus will grow up into the bottom layer of straw, meaning they are far more easily removed come spring.

• Sow poppies for spring flowering in all regions that do not have very cold winters. Shirley and iceland poppies can be sown in trays for transplanting in early spring, but soldier (aka Flanders) poppies are best sown direct. All prefer a sunny spot with light, free-draining soil.